Lotus Kay
Shows Young Readers That Friends Really Can Lift You Up
by Michele Appelgate • photo by Kelly Merchant Photography
At the age of 21, Lotus Kay is establishing herself as a successful writer, singer, and songwriter. Each of those talents could lead to separate careers, but Kay is giving voice to each.
“I tend to work on whatever I am feeling inspired to work on that day, unless I have a deadline I need to meet,” she said. “I am always writing something, whether it is on a song, a book, or ideas for an article or video or just adding quotes or ideas in my notes. Writing is my natural way of processing my experiences, so it is like breathing to me. It’s something I can’t not do!"
Born in New York, City, Kay grew up in Woodstock, New York, in the Hudson Valley. Even as a young child, she knew she wanted to be a writer. “I always loved reading children’s books and always thought that one day I would love to write books of my own. I love writing in rhymes and lyrically, which is also why I write songs and poems,” Kay said. “I also love being able to explain complex themes in a simple way that even kids can understand. I feel like kids see things so clearly and understand intuitively so many of these issues—about caring for the animals and the Earth, and I wanted to reinforce that natural understanding. Kids are the future, so I wanted to encourage qualities like compassion and kindness which we need in the world, as well as the ways they can make a difference in the world, too.”
Her latest book, Friends Lift You Up, has an anti-bullying message and is ultimately about treating others with kindness, in all ways big and small. “I think there is a misconception about what forms bullying can take,” she said. “It is stereotyped as some big burly bully stuffing a kid into a locker. While there are those forms of bullying, I wanted to shed a light on the more subtle ways kids can hurt or mistreat each other, even in close friendships, or the ways certain kids are teased or left out, all of which can be as harmful as the more overt forms of bullying.”
The book was just named among the best in family-friendly media, products, and services with the Mom’s Choice Gold Award.
In the back of the book, Kay shares her own story of feeling left out and having problems in friendships. “I also offer a section called Tips on Being a Friend to give examples of ways we can all be kinder to each other, encouragement to get help when you are being bullied, and how not to let misunderstandings or dramas escalate. Learning these lessons early can help us practice these necessary skills as we get older in life.”
Kay’s writings have been published in various outlets such as Thrive Global, Green Child magazine, Light of Consciousness, Kindness Magazine, and many others. She is a recipient of a grant from Jane Goodall’s Roots & Shoots program for her work creating an educational campaign called Bears for Cares. She’s the author of More Beautiful than Heaven, Billie the Octopus, A Thanksgiving for the Turkeys, Jenny The Chimpanzee (winner of the Mom’s Choice Award), and now Friends Lift You Up, all in collaboration with Bears for Cares, to educate kids on the importance and beauty of nature and motivate them to help protect the Earth, and everything on it.
“My older sister Jazmin and I formed Bears for Cares on Endangered Species Day in 2016 as part of the Jane Goodall Institute Roots & Shoots youth service program,” Kay said. “I have always looked up to Jane Goodall and loved the idea of her Roots & Shoots program to help and encourage young people to make a difference. The original idea was of offering organic cotton polar bear toys (bears for cares) to educate kids on the state of wildlife and endangered species, since how we were mistreating the Earth and animals was a cause close to my heart. I realized that we needed a way to explain the cause that the bears were connected too, so shortly after that I wrote my first children’s book at age 16, More Beautiful than Heaven, which featured the polar bear toy, ‘Beary’ as the main character."
The book series has since grown to include several additional books Kay wrote, and some of the books were outgrowths of the others.
“There’s an octopus in More Beautiful than Heaven, so Billie got its own book to educate kids about the ocean and marine life, and there was also a chimpanzee in More Beautiful than Heaven, which became Jenny The Chimpanzee to show how similar and interconnected we are with our animal friends,” Kay said. “Those books also have companion stuffed animals of their main characters. All of my books are printed on recycled, acid free paper.”
On her social media sites, Kay openly shares her experiences of living with autism. “It’s important for me to share my experience, particularly on TikTok. I have people say my videos helped them, or that they are going to show my videos to their therapist, or to their partner, or to their parent, because I put into words something they have struggled being able to express themselves,” she said. “One of the hardest parts of being neurodivergent is feeling misunderstood, so I’m so glad that autistic people are now finding our voices and explaining our experiences so we have a better understanding of ourselves, and other people can better understand and accept us, too.”
Kay is busy working to develop ideas to expand the Bears for Cares series, which she is excited to share soon. “I am also working on writing more songs and a new album,” she said. “I am always writing notes for new music, articles, and books, as well as other project ideas—my mind is always busy creating!”
No matter what her next project is, Kay hopes her writing and music can add something meaningful to people’s lives. “My goal is to create awareness, educate, inspire, or bring them some type of positive message or new understanding that they can take away from it.”
To learn more about Lotus Kay and her projects, visit lotuskay.com.