Film historian and Retrontario founder Ed Conroy takes readers on a nostalgic journey through fifty years of children’s television with his new book, ‘ImagiNation: The Golden Age of Toronto Kids’ TV’, out October 14, 2025. From beloved staples like Polka Dot Door, Mr. Dressup, and Today’s Special to the stranger corners of local programming such as Kiddo the Clown, Coming Up Rosie, and Maniac Mansion, the book revisits the vibrant creative hub that defined generations of Canadian childhoods. “ImagiNation took me down memory lane,” says former MuchMusic VJ Erica Ehm. “It shares behind-the-scenes stories about the shows that coloured my world when I was a kid.”
Drawing from extensive archival research and interviews, Conroy chronicles how Toronto became the epicenter of Canadian children’s TV. Beginning in 1952 with CBC’s debut and its first puppet host, Chichimus, the book traces how the city’s studios—CBC, TVOntario, CFTO, and YTV—fueled an extraordinary wave of imagination, producing countless iconic shows that shaped national culture.
Covering over one hundred programs aired between 1950 and 2000, ‘ImagiNation’ is both a cultural history and a love letter to the creators who built this world. Readers will rediscover favourites like The Friendly Giant, Degrassi Junior High, and Readalong, alongside forgotten treasures and the eccentric characters who made Toronto’s kids’ television scene truly unique. For anyone who grew up with Hammy Hamster, the Fraggles, or the Grogs, Conroy’s book is a joyful rewind through the golden age of wonder, whimsy, and made-in-Canada magic.