See You Next Year

Every summer, a girl’s family drives down the same roads, passes through the same towns, and spends a week at the same beachside motel. Year after year, everything is comfortingly predictable: the families they see, the rhythm of the days, the stars, the bonfires, and even the pattern the tractor makes as it rakes the sand on their beach. But this year, something is different: the girl, our narrator, meets a new friend who shows her how to dive under the waves and spot satellites in the night sky. When it’s time to go, she’s sad to part ways. But she knows she can look forward to seeing him next year. Illustrated in a restrained, retro palette, this story perfectly captures the timelessness of a summer holiday. The effect is nostalgic and almost hazy, as if seen in a dream, a memory, or through the shimmering air of a hot summer day.

Andrew Larsen is the author of several picture books including In the Treehouse and The Imaginary Garden. He is married and lives with his wife and two children in Toronto, Canada.

Todd Stewart trained as a landscape architect and urban planner but now works as an illustrator. Originally from Saskatchewan, he now lives in Montreal, Canada, and runs a small-scale print studio. This is his first picture book.