Larf is a sasquatch with elongated feet, a head the size of a bison’s, a penchant for red scarves, and a relatively happy life in the woods, where he maintains a regular schedule of jogging, gardening, and caring for his pet rabbit, Eric. And, of course, Wednesday is laundry day at the log cabin in which he and Eric dwell.

Larf stays out of people’s way as much as possible, until one day the newspaper announces the upcoming appearance of a sasquatch in a nearby town. Larf realizes how lonely he is and heads into the city disguised as a tourist. The “real-life” sasquatch turns out to be a fraud, but Larf meets another big-footed companion all the same, and it appears that romance will bloom.

Saskatoon author/illustrator Ashley Spires provides some great visual jokes, such as Larf’s jogging outfit (which reappears a page later in the laundry hamper) and the baby carrier in which the creature totes around the silent, perpetually bug-eyed Eric when the two go to town. While Spires’s Binky the cat books sometimes feel visually cramped, Larf is relaxed and bright.

The earth may shake when Larf walks, but the tale he stars in is lighter than air. The slightly fussy sasquatch is reminiscent of Mélanie Watt’s Scaredy Squirrel, but he possesses none of the personality quirks or obsessiveness that make Watt’s character so memorable and engaging. Larf is a nice guy for whom we wish the best, and the best is pretty much what he gets.

Larf gets by on the warm-heartedness of the pictures and the protagonist, but as a one-off, it teeters on the edge of being nice but forgettable. If it’s the start of a series starring the amiable bigfoot, Spires needs to make his world a little more vivid.