Karla Wants a Dad is about Karla, who is 6 years old and attending kindergarten and living with her mum. Karla doesn’t have a dad, because her mum had her with help from a sperm donor. Karla knows a lot about how her mum managed to have her, without having a husband. But Karla doesn’t know much about what it's like to have a real dad.
One day she sees a dad carrying his sleeping daughter in his arms. That looks lovely! And Karla begins to wish for a dad. She talks to her mum about her desire, and she begins noticing some things about other children’s families: Families can be very different! Some families have a father but no grandfather. Other families have three children and yet room for one more. And not all families–like Karla’s–have ‘an Anne’.