Noodin, an indigenous child who happens to be nonbinary, is seeking a perfect day, involving pancakes for breakfast, dogs to pet, and books to read. But their mom is busy and their aunty asks them to watch two of their cousins. Noodin decides to head off to the city with the cousins to visit Noodin’s dad. It turns out dad is busy, too—but the cousins help Noodin have fun anyway, even if the day wasn’t quite what they expected. But does Noodin ever get their pancakes?
Encounters with animals and a personable tree add to the fun of this everyday adventure that reminds us we sometimes need to go with the flow.
Noodin and their family are presumably Anishinaabe, based on scattered Anishinaabemowin words used by the characters throughout the text (and author Ansley Simpson’s own identity), but this is never stated. The words are explained in a short glossary at the end, although without noting what language they are from. (If you want another book with a queer Anishinaabe character, check out the middle-grade graphic novel Rabbit Chase.)
