★Winner-Governor General’s Literary Award 2023
Winner-Prix Espiègle 2023
Longlisted-Prix des libraires du Québec 2024

★Illustrated by Eve Patteno, the award-winning illustrator of the Governor General's Literary Award in Canada!

Florent, a ten-year-old boy, overheard his mother's conversation by accident: Faced with the current state of the earth, they were considering whether to have a second child. Through a series of incomprehensible words and phrases, he caught the hesitation in their voices, the fear in their eyes, and the gesture of one of them placing her hand on the other's belly - just like when he couldn't sleep after having a nightmare. Nightmares would set off fireworks in his mind.
He became uneasy, only catching snippets of their conversation: "Is it a mistake to add another child to this planet?" This sentence was like the final blow. Florent understood: There were too many people on the earth, no more children should be born, it should have stopped long ago, and he himself was superfluous. Emotions overwhelmed him. He wanted to hide under the covers and cry, but his vision blurred, his feet slipped, and he fell down three steps, hitting his head hard. His mothers rushed over. They went to the hospital. The doctor examined him. It was a false alarm. His forehead was bandaged, he was given a lollipop, and was told not to run on the stairs in the future. His tears were attributed to the pain.

The following were several nights of torment, with nightmares and wild thoughts coming one after another. Every day, Florent tried a new "indispensable" method: being as polite, enthusiastic, well-behaved, funny, and achieving the best grades as possible - without realizing that he was driven by the sudden fear of being abandoned. His mothers were initially amused by their son's performance, but later began to wonder. They asked carefully, but he dodged; they tried different approaches, but still got nothing.

Until one day when they were driving out, he heard a radio report about forest fires, floods, and global warming, and suddenly burst into uncontrollable tears. The car stopped, and one of his mothers quickly held him in her arms and asked what was wrong. Florent instinctively said, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have come into this world..." His mothers were confused and guided him to explain clearly. He said, "I didn't know there was no more space when I was born... I don't want to destroy the earth!"

After realizing the storm in their child's heart, they tried to find words that would neither belittle his concerns nor fail to soothe the turmoil within him.

Samuel Larochelle never needed to "reboot" his childlike wonder because he had long vowed to protect it and let it grow throughout his life. Perhaps that's why he could so strongly empathize with Florent, the ecologically anxious little guy in his first picture book. To experience the full spectrum of writing, he has published adult novels such as "Elias and Justin", "All the Blame on Boys", and "Everything Leads Me Back to You", a young adult trilogy "Lily", poetic essays "One Star at a Time, Against the Night" and "I Left My Heart in Your Mouth", biographies, short stories, columns (Le Devoir, Le Livre de Poche), and cultural critiques. He also hosts the podcast "Like an Open Book" and curates literary cabarets across Quebec.

Born in Saint-Isidore, Quebec in 1979, she grew up in Montérégie and Estrie and now lives in Montreal. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree and is both a writer and an illustrator, as well as engaged in language and editing proofreading work. She has been active in Quebec's children's publishing and graphic novel fields for many years. Patenaude's illustrations are known for their soft lines and low saturation tones, often incorporating hand-drawn embroidery textures. She likes to place "childhood emotions" - anxiety, curiosity, and loneliness - in family or natural settings, allowing readers to resonate with warmth and humor. Besides ecological issues, she also explores themes such as identity, death, and diverse families.