The Moon's Journey

Written by Beryl Young

Illustrated by Sean Huang

Red Deer Press

978-0-889957473

32 pp.

Ages 6-8

November 2024 

 

When Faith and her family are set to leave Wales and join her father in Canada, Faith is devastated with all she must leave behind, from their home and their cat Blackie to her best friend and even the caterpillars she was nurturing. And what about the moon?

 

I especially can't leave the moon.

 

From The Moon's Journey by Beryl Young, illustrated by Sean Huang

   

But her brother Gareth has a way to reassure her.

 

After boarding the ship, finding their berths, and exploring the ship, Faith looks for the towline tethering the moon to the ship's funnel. And though she cannot see it and worries that the rope has come loose, Gareth always reassures her, as he does day after day and night after night of their journey.

From The Moon's Journey by Beryl Young, illustrated by Sean Huang

When they finally arrive in Canada and are picked up by the children's father, Faith's concerns continue.

Would the captain remember to untie the rope so the moon could stay in Canada?

And though their dad does everything to ensure that their new home feels like home, including a new kitten, it's not until the moon reappears, seemingly bigger and closer than in Wales, that Faith that knows she's home.

 

While Faith's family's experience aboard the ship may be far more upscale than those of most immigrants, with gleaming silverware and white serviettes, Beryl Young still encompasses the tenuous nature of migration from the familiar to the unknown. By tethering Faith's disquiet about the move with the moon, a familiar and ever-present entity, even when it's not always visible, Beryl Young gives a common feature to which all immigrants can relate. The sun and moon are forever present, no matter where we are. It's a shared experience and one that we can all rely on, at least most of the time. And by reconnecting with the moon in her new country, Faith gets the reassurance she needs that things would be okay.

In addition to coping with migration, Beryl Young includes a sweet brother-sister relationship that helps Faith persevere and look for the familiar. How lovely for Gareth to create a scenario in which the moon is dragged along by the ship to their new country just to comfort the young girl.

From The Moon's Journey by Beryl Young, illustrated by Sean Huang

For historical fiction, Saskatchewan artist Sean Huang's illustrations are an excellent fit. Previously he illustrated I Am Not a Ghost: The Canadian Pacific Railway, another picture book of historical relevance, and his realistic art here in The Moon's Journey just as capably transports us to the 1950s and post WW2 immigration by ship.  Even though his artwork is digitally rendered, it leans towards the realism of classic oil paintings from the 19th c., focusing on landscapes of the sea and the ship along with portraits of the children at play or contemplation. For the historical events of post-war immigration, Sean Huang's art is befitting.

 

The Moon's Journey is a simple tale of how a natural connection between places can make all the difference in easing the hardship of something like immigration. In this case, it was most fortuitous that the moon was able to join Faith and her family on their journey and in their new country.