Call Me Gray

Written by Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen

Illustrated by Tallulah Fontaine

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-1135-2

32 pp.

Ages 4-8

October 2025 

 

For a four-letter word, "gray" packs a lot of meaning. It can mean the colour that is between black and white, the two sides that allow no middle ground. It can mean the dullness of a cloudy day with the absence of sun pulling a pall over everything. It can also reflect a feeling of detachment or depression, far more profound than the blues of sadness. But, for the child in Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen's story, it's a name that holds colour and brightness, sunshine and joy.

From Call Me Gray, written by Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen, illustrated by Tallulah Fontaine

It's the beginning of winter, and an unnamed child is looking forward to some wonderful traditions that they and their father partake in, starting with the building of their ice rink. But this year, this child knows something has changed.

But this year feels different.

 

It's not the snow

and it's not the cold.

 

It's me. 

 (pg. 6)

 

From Call Me Gray, written by Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen, illustrated by Tallulah Fontaine

As they build their ice rink, the child hesitantly tries to gain some clarity to their feelings. A  recent incident, in which their best friend doesn't invite them to her sleepover because it's only for girls, has them saddened and perplexed. Talking to their dad, the child asks some very big questions including, "Do you ever feel mixed up about who you are?" (pg.12) Their dad tries to answer this and other questions but it's obvious that he's not grasping exactly what his child is asking. Still, as their work progresses, there is one statement that makes their dad stop and think and appreciate what his child is saying. 

"I look like a boy but

sometimes I feel more

like a girl."  

   (pg. 15)

And with that meaningful communication,  a subtle but monumental change begins to take place in the midst of enduring winter traditions.

From Call Me Gray, written by Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen, illustrated by Tallulah Fontaine

I have reviewed so many Andrew Larsen books, both picture books and middle-grade fiction, including Goodnight, Hockey Fans (2017),  Dingus (2017), and Me, Toma and the Concrete Jungle (2019), and each one seems deeply personal. Call Me Gray has that same overtone, perhaps because Andrew Larsen has written it with his son, and the two have spoken of Bells Larsen's own experiences as a transgender person. I don't know if Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen built ice rinks together and enjoyed hot chocolate afterwards, but the relationship between father and child in Call Me Gray is a touching one without being saccharine. In fact, it's quite real. They speak, they interact, and they question as they try to understand themselves and the other. And it's obviously a safe space in which to question and to make choices. 

From Call Me Gray, written by Andrew Larsen and Bells Larsen, illustrated by Tallulah Fontaine

This is the first children's picture book that Edmonton's Tallulah Fontaine has illustrated,  though her work has been featured on advertising displays and in numerous publications including the New Yorker, the New York Times, and The Economist. Rendered in gouache and finished digitally, her illustrations focus on that which is important: the relationship between the child and their father, as well as others. Tallulah Fontaine shows them pounding stakes, shovelling snow, and chatting while they work. She shows them putting on their skates and skating and always interacting, either in silence or in important conversations. Their work, together to build rink or to build understanding, is the goal. And Tallulah Fontaine always conveys much in the faces of her characters, whether it be disappointment, confusion, contentment, or hope.

Call Me Gray may become a wonderful story starter for challenging conversations about gender identities or about encouraging self-expression or about building an ice rink. It might help children share their feelings, or help their parents establish safe spaces to discuss big issues. But Call Me Gray may also take "gray" out of the unfavourable realm and move it into one of inclusivity and association and positive change.

The Bird Feeder

Written by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated Dorothy Leung

Kids Can Press

978-1-5253-0483-5

40 pp.

Ages 3-7

October 2022

As I watch the birds seek food at our feeders–2 nyjer feeders, a hopper, a tray and two suet holders–I am reminded how much joy is derived from just watching the birds. It's sitting back and observing their feeding, their interactions with other birds, and making a connection with the natural world, often from the confines of our man-made one. But this connection can be far greater than at first glance as Andrew Larsen shows us in his latest picture book The Bird Feeder.

From The Bird Feeder by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Dorothy Leung

After their grandmother comes to live with them, a child spends special time with her: chatting about their secret wishes, drawing, and enjoying the birds at the bird feeder Grandma brought with her. But when Grandma is taken into hospice, the child is initially bereft, not wanting to fill the bird feeder as they'd done for her.

From The Bird Feeder by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Dorothy Leung

After seeing the big picture window in Grandma's hospice room, the child surprises their grandmother by hanging the bird feeder on the tree outside.

"Oh, my! says Grandma. "You brought the birds!"

Together they watch the birds, eat purple Jell-O, draw, and visit with Suki, the therapy dog. And the next spring, as three tiny beaks poke out of a nest, Grandma passes.

From The Bird Feeder by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Dorothy Leung

In a touching story of a special grandmother-grandchild connection and the cycle of life, Andrew Larsen shows us that even in great sadness there can be joy and comfort. With that extraordinary bond between the two generations comes learning, art, togetherness, and support. Both give and take from the other, filling their lives with affection and contentment. And though Grandma is in hospice, that connection is re-established via a bird feeder, which gives Grandma solace and the two of them a link of focus, purpose, and appreciation. I must admit that I shed a tear with Grandma's passing, so subtly handled with Andrew Larsen's text that evokes love and loss without the fear and despair that often accompany death. It's this simplicity of message and story that Dorothy Leung emulates in her digital artwork. There is a clarity in her illustrations that conveys tenderness and caring and family while giving readers just enough detail in a framed family photo or leaves on a tree or weariness on a face to scaffold a memorable story.

I know there are birds in the story, but The Bird Feeder is more than a grandmother and grandchild sharing a love of birds. There is an intimacy here that transcends all. It's a tender story of life and love and the blessings that come with both.

I Do Not Like Stories

Written by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Carey Sookocheff

Owlkids Books

978-1-77147-378-1

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

September 2020

Like many children, this child has very definite preferences, especially about the types of stories he likes. Actually he is more adamant about the types of stories he doesn't like than those he likes. But does he really know what he doesn't like?

From I Do Not Like Stories by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Carey Sookocheff

From waking up to his cat pawing his face to getting dressed, feeding his fish, heading to school and participating in his school day, the child is reminded about all the stories he doesn't like i.e., stories about fish and buildings, numbers and fruit, and buses and bikes. As the day goes on, everything remind him of the stories he doesn't like.

From I Do Not Like Stories by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Carey Sookocheff

But as the boy relates all the stories he does not like, his cat, a lovely tuxedo, lives those stories. The boy doesn't like stories about numbers or letters but his cat races by a parking meter and surprises the postal carrier with his bag of mail. The boy languishes over his lunch fruit and thinks about how much he does not like stories about apples or pears or peaches or plums while his feline friend visits a fruit stand, toppling produce after a dog chases it away. For each experience for which the child recounts his dislike of stories, his cat is creating its own stories about that same set of circumstances. From trees to going home and doing things, the boy dislikes the stories and the cat lives them.

From I Do Not Like Stories by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Carey Sookocheff

In the end, the boy relents that he might like a story about a cat.

Without establishing the fact that the child has been wrong all along and that he, in fact, does like stories, Andrew Larsen delivers that message with a tongue-in-cheek approach. It's like a parent who smiles, knowing that the child who insists that they don't like something will like it once they try it. It's accepting a child's assertions as true but allowing for leeway in the actuality of those pronouncements. By allowing the child to come to that realization himself, Andrew Larsen takes the adult out of the equation and makes it all about the growth of the child in learning what he might like for himself.

As in her earlier books (see What Happens Next, Wet and Buddy and Earl for other samples), Carey Sookocheff's illustrations play on the author's important message and elevates it with subtlety of colour and line for greater impact. Her artwork plays on that juxtaposition of child and cat, what one affirms and the other experiences. Same circumstances but different perspectives and appreciation for those circumstances. Carey Sookocheff's minimalist palette, primarily pale blue-greys with splashes of yellow and orange, keeps the reader focused on the darkest elements of her illustrations: the cat and the child's head. So, while it is the child's head only that has decided what he doesn't like, it's the whole cat that lives life, pursuing adventures and involving itself in its day fully.

For any child who cannot see beyond a pervasive opinion that may or may not be valid, I Do Not Like Stories will make them think twice and perhaps even consider a different perspective to the story.

From I Do Not Like Stories by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Carey Sookocheff

Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden

Written by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Anne Villeneuve

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-917-4

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

May 2019

There will be many kids whose summer vacation will include hanging out with relatives, away from home. But if that away-from-home holiday is also based in the wide-openness of unstructured time without benefit of anchors such as immediate family and friends, it may seem insurmountable or boring. Still, sometimes it's necessary to take a chance on beginning something new for growth to happen.

From Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Anne Villeneuve

Vincent has been sent to stay with his Aunt Mimi for the summer while his mother recuperates from an operation. A box of dirt balls from a secret admirer–"Are you sure this secret person even likes you?" I say. "They gave you a box of dirt!"–adds to the grayness of Vincent's new surroundings until he makes the acquaintance of Toma. As an icebreaker, Vincent brings down some of the dirt balls and suggests they throw them over the tall brick wall into the empty lot. An elderly man whom Toma calls Mr. Grumpypants  is watchful of their distraction.

From Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Anne Villeneuve

What begins as a tiresome holiday becomes a summer with a new friend, playing ball, reading comics, visiting the ice cream truck and more when Mr. Grumpypants points out to the boys, balcony to balcony, that the empty lot is starting to green. In fact, Mr. Grumpypants whose name is Marco is a kindly gardener who helps the boys water the garden through the fence and teaches them about the flowers that had been sheltered in the dirt balls.

But when Vincent's mother feels well enough to have him home, he's saddened to leave everyone and the garden behind. Thankfully there's much to occupy a child before their next summer holiday and it will be a wonderful surprise when Vincent and Toma are reunited again and extend their gardening into something even more special.

From Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden by Andrew Larsen, illus. by Anne Villeneuve

Like his earlier picture book, See You Next Year (Owlkids, 2015), Andrew Larsen gets into the head of children on summer holidays. In Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden, Andrew Larsen emphasizes the turnaround from the gloomy unknown of new place to a brightness that comes from belonging. That goes for both Vincent and the apparently worthless dirt balls. It is the unknown that makes for the dullness. But, with time and a little nurturing, the new friendship and the piles of dirt blossom into something invaluable.

Though I know that Anne Villeneuve, author-illustrator of Loula is Leaving for Africa (Kids Can Press, 2013) and other books, typically uses ink and watercolour, it seems highly appropriate to use those two media in a picture book in which colourful blooms sprout from soil balls. By emphasizing the black ink in her opening illustrations with only celadon and rose to relieve the gloom, Anne Villeneuve hints at the coming of verdant green and colourful florals. Moreover, with her wonderful assortment of people and animals, from a toddler with his mother to other children, middle-aged persons and the elderly Marco, Anne Villeneuve brings life to a community in which children and flowers can grow.

Many may dismiss unstructured summers in urban settings as flat and uninspired for children but Me, Toma and the Concrete Garden makes it clear that sometimes the incredible can sprout from very little.

Goodnight, Hockey Fans

Written by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Jacqui Lee

Kids Can Press

978-1-77138-105-5

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

October 2017

Older readers will recognize the title as the sign-off of radio and TV broadcaster Foster Hewitt after calling a hockey game for Hockey Night in Canada.  They may even recognize the setting, time and place, from their mid-1950s to early-1960s home, with its antennaed television and transistor radio.  But every child, then and now, who dreams of hockey glory will feel this story.

Though the family–mom, dad, son, dog and cat–are enjoying watching television, it's time for the child to go to bed.  He's a little apprehensive, not knowing if he'll be able to fall asleep, especially amidst the silence that seems to roar.

From Goodnight, Hockey Fans 

by Andrew Larsen 

illus. by Jacqui Lee

He shines his flashlight on his hockey poster, pennant and puck trophy and finally settles on calming himself with his dad's old transistor radio.  When he hears the familiar "Welcome back, hockey fans from coast to coast" he knows he has found his ticket to dreamland.

From Goodnight, Hockey Fans 

by Andrew Larsen 

illus. by Jacqui Lee

And dream he does. First it's just the hockey game that might be being watched on TV, but soon the announcement of a boy skating onto the ice and going after the puck is trumpeted.  There is that culminating goal and cheers that fade into the nighttime quiet, but it's not really over until mom and dad head to bed and hear the iconic sign-off from their son's concealed radio:  "Goodnight, hockey fans from coast to coast."

From Goodnight, Hockey Fans 

by Andrew Larsen 

illus. by Jacqui Lee

What a delightful way to celebrate hockey in Canada and to honour Foster Hewitt, the voice of Canadian hockey! By melding the broadcast of a hockey game, complete with the broadcaster's trademark sayings, with a boy's imaginative dreams, everyone is transported to a dreamland of historic play on the ice.  Andrew Larsen who can't possibly be old enough to remember when Foster Hewitt's broadcasts took place on radio and TV captures the wonder of the game and the dream of children nation-wide to play with their hockey heroes and score a winning goal.   The playfulness that Andrew Larsen embeds in his books (see Dingus, Kids Can Press, 2017; Charlie's Dirt Day, Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2015; and See You Next Year, Owlkids Books, 2015) comes through loud and clear, even in the quiet of a dreaming child's bedroom.

That same playfulness is evoked in Jacqui Lee's retro-style illustrations. From the colours she selects, very reminiscent of a 1950s paint palette, to the uniforms of the hockey players, Jacqui Lee's artwork blends well with Andrew Larsen's story's setting.  The art, like the text, is of a time when Foster Hewitt was everything to hockey in Canada, including the soothing voice of dreams and comfortable slumber.

Dingus

Written by Andrew Larsen
Kids Can Press
978-1-77138-661-6
208 pp.
Ages 9-12
May 2017

Dork. Doofus. Dingus.  Variations on a theme.  But Andrew Larsen’s narrator, eleven-year-old Henry will have no problems accepting that final moniker after the conclusion of his fifth grade and the beginning of a summer holiday that seems to hold no promise.

Though Henry likes his Gr. 5 teacher Mr. Buntrock–with his stories, laughter yoga and word-of–the-day–the school year has been one of multiple changes, not the least of which is his growing estrangement from his best friend Max.  Though the two boys have always relished their differences–Max is smarter, taller and wealthier–Max has become so immersed in his winning chess team that he has little time for Henry.  Worse still, Max seems to take pleasure is teasing Henry about wearing Max’s cast-off clothes and more, making Henry the butt of his chess team’s jokes.

At home, things are similarly in flux.  Mom who’d had baby Sam a year ago is returning to work which will require more travel, starting with a trip to Las Vegas the last day of school.  Dad, who’d lost his job just before Sam’s birth, has stayed at home to care for Sam and, by default, Henry. And, of course, there is less money for everything and anything, including a pair of much-admired Chad Baker sneakers.

I was mad at Max. I was mad at his new friends. I was mad at my dad for getting me Chad Fakers instead of Chad Bakers. I was mad at myself for being so mad.
   My life officially sucked.
   I was mad at that, too. (pg. 45)

Adding insult to injury, Max gets to go away to his much-loved chess camp while Henry  sees a summer of nothingness ahead of him.  What Henry doesn’t realize is that Dad’s idea of a staycation will bring him a new set of experiences like outdoors movie night, Elvis sandwiches, and bottle rockets, suggesting that change really is as good as a holiday.

It must be rough being a kid for whom everything feels like it’s going sideways.  What’s worse is when it’s things you can’t control like money, baby brothers, and friends as well as  things you can but don’t because you’re a dingus.  But Andrew Larsen realizes that change, like that of the puberty lessons Henry has to endure at the end of Grade 5, is inevitable and rolling with it rather than fighting it is probably a lot easier.

I know there’s a million middle-graders out there right not who are wondering about their summers, the changes their bodies and minds are going through, and the direction that friendships are heading.  It’s a lot on their plates, especially since things don’t always work out at planned.  But, take solace in that, even if you’re a Dingus–and we are all such goofs some time in our lives–that it’s rarely fatal and often educational, just like mistakes and school.

9th Annual TOTSAPALOOZA: Toronto

Time to get ready for 

Small Print Toronto's

9th Annual Totsapalooza

a festival of indie music, picture book authors and DIY crafts

with singer-songwriter Fred Penner

and 

picture book authors

Tyler Clark Burke

launching her debut picture book Bill Bowerbird & The Unbearable Beak Ache! (OwlKids Books)

Elise Gravel

sharing her new books I Want A Monster! and The Cranky Ballerina (HarperCollins Canada)

and

Andrew Larsen

inspiring storytellers with his latest picture book, A Squiggly Story (Kids Can Press).

on

  Saturday, February 4, 2017

1 - 4 p.m.

at

Revival

783 College Street

Toronto, ON

The Movement Lab children’s dance studio will be back to keep the crowd on their toes and Kensington Market bakery Wanda’s Pie-in-the-Sky will have healthy, handmade snacks on hand.

Books will be available for purchase and signing at the event.

Tickets are available for purchase at 

https://www.eventbrite.ca/e/small-print-tos-totsapalooza-9-with-fred-penner-tickets-29581577294

(n.b. early bird ticket sales ends today!)

See You Next Year

by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Todd Stewart

Owlkids Books

978-1-926973-99-9

32 pp.

Ages 3-7

March 2015

I'll bet lots of families are already thinking about their summer plans, and many already know where and when they’ll be vacationing because it’s become an annual ritual.  It’s a ritual embedded in a known car trip, a familiar cottage à la motel, and a proverbial beach.

We’ve been coming to the same place every summer since I was little.
Nothing changes.
That’s why I like it. (pg. 8)

In See You Next Year, the intimacy of the location is only surpassed by the familiarity of the activities.  The very people may change from year to year but the sand-raking tractor, the umbrella-toting visitors, the evening concert at the gazebo bandstand and the beach bonfire are all the same.  However, a new friend,  not unexpected, adds some new milestones to the young girl’s summer.

The rhythm of Andrew Larsen’s text will easily transport older readers to summer holidays as children: the lapping of the waves on the beach, the pattern of the sea of umbrellas , the patter of that inevitable day of rain, the routine of waking, swimming, playing, staying up late and sleeping in.

And Todd Stewart, for whom this is his first picture book, captures the essence of those summer holidays with family in his retro art and minimal palette.  In illustrations in which he could have emphasized a myriad of colours across bathing suits, umbrellas, and blistering heat, Todd Stewart chooses eloquently to underscore the turquoise of the water, the sandy golds of the beach, the midnight blue of a clear sky, or the taupes of a rainy day inside.  It works so well.

I suspect Andrew Larsen may be recreating his own memories or sharing those of his own children.  Either way, summer will seem very familiar and too far in the future until it’s already gone, and a postcard and warm memories are all that are left.  Until next year.

Charlie's Dirt Day

by Andrew Larsen

Illustrated by Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli

Fitzhenry & Whiteside

978-1-55455-334-1

32 pp.

Ages 4+

January, 2015

Charlie's Dirt Day may sound like another story of messy play, but it's actually one for the onset of spring and the coming of Earth Day and could be so useful in teaching the value of composting and joys of gardening to little ones!

Charlie may think the "nannies and grannies and moms and dads and boys and girls and cats and dogs and wagons and wheelbarrows and buckets and bowls and babies" are the start of a parade but, when his dad–who bears an uncanny resemblance to author Andrew Larsen–and Charlie follow, the procession leads them to a big pile of dirt, resting in the middle of the park beneath a banner announcing "Dirt Day!"  Not just dirt, as a man in green overalls corrects, but "the richest, dirtiest dirt you'll ever see."

Though Mr. Martino has plans for the compost, including sharing it with Mrs. Lee and Mr. Patel, Charlie has no garden and is disappointed that he won't be able to share in this experience.  But Andrew Larsen allows Charlie, and all readers, to learn about growing cherry tomatoes from seed and the satisfaction of coming together to do something good for Mother Earth and enjoying the fruits of one's labour (pun fully intended!) as a community. The pleasure in the faces of Jacqueline Hudon-Verrelli's characters, especially that of young Charlie as he cradles his first potted seed, is wide and encompassing and joyous.  Bravo and yum too!

The activities and information included in Charlie's Dirt Day, as always appended to the story in Fitzhenry & Whiteside's Tell Me More Storybook series, includes differentiation between dirt, soil and compost; how nature composts; growing cherry tomatoes from seed; and making compost in a cup, a perfect hands-on activity for children.

Here's my only question:  where's the recipe for Martino's Marvellous Spaghetti Sauce?!  Tell me more!

In the Tree House: Book Launch (Toronto)

Join

Andrew Larsen

author of  
The Imaginary Garden (Kids Can Press, 2009)
Bye, Bye, Butterflies (Fitzhenry & Whiteside, 2012)
The Luck of Jude (Lorimer, 2011)

on

Sunday, April 28, 2013

from

1:00 - 2:30 p.m.
at 

Story Planet and Intergalactic

1165 Bloor Street West, Toronto

for the launch of his newest picture book

In the Tree House

Written by Andrew Larsen
Illustrated by Dušan Petričić
Kids Can Press
978-1-554536-35-9
32 pp.
Ages3-9
April 1, 2013

A story about two brothers.