Larsen, Andrew. Call Me Gray. Tallulah Fontaine, Illus. Addl. Creator Bells Larsen. Kids Can, 10/2025. [32]pp. Picture Book. Trade $21.99. 978-1-5253-1135-2. GRADES Kindergarten–4. HIGH ADDITIONAL.
Every winter Gray and their dad create an ice rink, “but this year [something] feels different…it’s me.” Through a series of simple yet insightful questions, Gray shares with their father that their internal sense of gender doesn’t match up with their name and how they’re perceived. Interspersed with pauses offered by full-page wordless illustrations, we are shown a thoughtful and intentional understanding formed between a father and a trans child. In a book dedicated “to trans kids,” Gray self-describes by saying “I look like a boy but sometimes I feel more like a girl.” Gray and their father both have pale skin, and it appears that they live in a single-parent household. The gouache illustrations help us dive below the surface of the narrative, with images of Gray looking into a mirror and seeing only a blur, and the repeated depiction of Gray’s home full of warm yellow light against a cold winter background. Peaceful and cozy but at the same time deep, this book gives readers language to help parse out and describe feelings around gender and belonging. Review based on an ARC.
Sicilia Smith—Alameda Free Library