We Are the Scrappy Ones: An Interview with Illustrator Kirbi Fagan

We Are the Scrappy Ones by Rebekah Taussig is an anthem of belonging, celebrating the wide range of disabled children and affirming their worth, just as they are. Luminous illustrations by Kirbi Fagan portray a diverse cast of characters living, learning, and playing. Settle in for a warm, joy-filled book that celebrates and affirms disabled children.

Today illustrator Kirbi Fagan joins us to share how she created the art for the book, her personal journey while working on the project, and more.

What do the first stages of the book process look like?

My background is making art for book covers, so I tend to think about the whole package of a book first. This sets the tone for my brainstorming. The entire team at Lerner agreed that a starry, space-y theme would be ideal. I sketched everything that came to mind. When I exhausted all the possible characters, scenery, and poses I could come up with I revisited the manuscript. At this stage, the words are still new to me. I sketch with each page in mind, keeping the original sketches scattered around me so I can pull ideas from them like a treasure chest.

What inspired your characters?

I immediately read Rebekah’s memoir, Sitting Pretty, when Carol Hinz wrote me about the project. Of course, Rebekah’s writing inspired me! I’ve had Crohn’s Disease since I was very young and can relate. The scrappy ones I’ve met in waiting rooms, infusion rooms, comic conventions, art classes, camps and support groups fill this book. It’s not easy to sum up all that we are within one illustration so I included the same set of characters throughout the entire book so you can see them from new perspectives.

How did you create the illustrations?

I draw the foreground, middle ground, background, and characters with pastels on separate sheets of paper. I scan and import into Photoshop. I carefully cut the artwork using my Wacom pen/tablet and collaged them onto the page layout. I additionally paint with my Wacom to touch up until the artwork is finished. Some of the words were begging to be hand drawn in the same technique and you can see that throughout the book as well.

What surprised you about working on We Are the Scrappy Ones?

This book pushed me out into my disabled community. I showed up to places I haven’t been in and for people I haven’t been with in a long time. It’s easy to isolate with the ups and downs of Crohn’s, but embracing my community has always been a life line for me.

What’s your hope for the scrappy ones?

I hope that the real‑life details connect you to the scrappy ones and make you feel embraced the way I did when I first read the manuscript. The story starts with the scrappy ones blasting out of the sky, and later on, they climb through clouds into places in the universe we can only imagine. However we climb, one thing I hope rings true: the possibilities are yet to be discovered.

Praise for We Are the Scrappy Ones

“In Fagan’s luminous, star-spangled scenes, people using wheelchairs, white canes, communication devices, and more radiate joy and community, countering assumptions about disabled people (such as “loss leaves no space for laughter”) and reminding readers that they’re “as dazzling as a sky full of stars”. . . Warm, poetic, and affirming.”—starred, Kirkus Reviews

“Disability advocate Taussig (Sitting Pretty) directly addresses children with disabilities in this beautiful affirmation of belonging, imagination, and self-worth . . . A meaningful work for children with disabilities and those who interact with them, this is a purchase for all collections.”—School Library Journal

“Rebekah’s poem about growing up disabled is insightful, heartfelt, and true. It makes complex ideas simple to understand, and simple ideas feel fresh and new. Kirbi’s warm artwork will draw in young readers while Rebekah’s words settle in their minds. This is a book to read and reread, a book to grow up with.”—James Catchpole, author of What Happened to You?, Schneider Family Book Award Honor, and Lucy Catchpole, author of Mama Car

“We Are the Scrappy Ones is a remarkably beautiful, soul-lifting, groundbreaking story. For our world and the future of our vibrant disabled community, I’m overjoyed this book exists.”—Shane Burcaw, author of the award-winning books Not So Different: What You Really Want to Ask About Having a Disability and Laughing at My Nightmare

Hear from the Author

Author Rebekah Taussig spoke with Roger Sutton and the Horn Book Magazine in early April. Read the full article on The Horn Book Magazine website.

Connect with the Illustrator

Kirbi Fagan is a Michigan New York Best Selling illustrator. Her work includes the picture book The Summer of the Tree Army by Gloria Whelan (2021), We Are the Scrappy Ones (2025), as well as cover art in adult, YA, middle-grade, and comic books. Kirbi is driven to create books for readers like her. When she was growing up, arts and crafts were her lifeline as a way to cope with ongoing illness. Kirbi is traditionally trained as an oil painter, earning her bachelor’s degree in Illustration from Kendall College of Art and Design.