The Moons of Goose Island

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

David, a young, recently orphaned Native boy, lives with his
grandparents in an isolated place called Goose Island. Although his
grandparents are kind, David is extremely lonely. One day he finds a
single gosling that has somehow become separated from its parents.
Knowing what it is like to be alone, David adopts the young bird as a
pet and takes it home. The gosling grows rapidly and, despite a few
misadventures, they become fast friends. David believes his lonely days
are over until he sees the wild geese gathering for their migration
south and realizes that his new friend yearns to go with them.

In this fine book, text and illustrations come together in a single
voice. Philpot deftly intertwines his poignant prose with Hessian’s
First Nations images to tell the bittersweet tale. The emotional
undercurrents of the story are paralleled by the use of color in the
illustrations. As the narrative begins, the art appears in black ink
only; color is added only after David finds the gosling and begins to
forget his loneliness. The illustrations grow brighter as David evolves
from a care-getter into a caregiver, until the ending, which blazes with
warmth. Recommended.