Borrowed Black: A Labrador Fantasy

R. Gordon Moyles is professor emeritus of English at the University of
Alberta. He is co-author of Imperial Dreams and Colonial Realities:
British Views of Canada, 1880–1914, author of The Salvation Army and
the Public, and editor of “Improved by Cult

Part tall tale, part bizarre fantasy, this is a poetic rendition of how
Borrowed Black “borrowed” the moon, which he buried off the coast of
Labrador, turning every night into pitch blackness for 17 years, until
the crew of “the boat on the back of a whale” rescued and restored
it to its proper place, cracks and all.

The poem, written in ballad style, is fast-paced and
action-packed—“One night Borrowed Black went out with his sack / And
borrowed the moon. But on his way back, / The moon broke into pieces—a
million and four— / So he buried them deep off the Labrador”—and,
with a few exceptions (“What is a jaeger?” some will ask), is
completely accessible to young children. The watercolour illustrations,
mainly in eerie blue-green textures, are brilliant; the ones of Borrowed
Black, with his seashell ears, gull’s-beak nose, and seal-flipper
feet, are especially effective. Some readers might find them a little
scary, but the happy ending should more than make up for a few visual
jolts. Highly recommended.