I recently did a reading at an elementary school in Ottawa, and one of the children asked me if I was a girl. I said yes. Another child commented that I had a deep voice. I responded: "Can girls have deep voices?" There was a pause and then the group responded, "Yes!"

In my thirties, I have felt a greater urgency to make art that highlights what it feels like to be racialized, likely due to living in a country that obscures our racism with the idea of "multiculturalism."

Children are receptive to talking about gender creativity, confirming the importance of the book as a means to instigate this dialogue at an early age.

When I wouldn't leave home without my blue contacts or when I was bleaching my hair, I didn't have the language to articulate that I was trying to assimilate to whiteness. If anything, I was trying to "look normal."

Art can sometimes be separate from the artist.

When I do book readings, I always incorporate music or singing.

Now is not the time for Canadians to be sanctimonious. It is time for us to be prudent and active.