Barkhouse, J. 2010. Sable Island—Imagine! Illustrated by Sally Bratt. Porcupine Chapter Book Series, Curriculum Plus Publishing Company, Toronto, Ontario. 47 pages.

Note: The author first visited Sable Island in early spring 2008—a sunny day trip with friend Sandra Barry. In this story Janet Barkhouse sees the island through the eyes of an excited and delighted child, and shares many of her day’s experiences—sights, sounds, and scents of Sable. The visit includes travel on a small aircraft, landing on a beach, meeting wild horses and a new foal, and, when some beached balloon debris is encountered, learning a little about marine pollution. Interestingly the entire story is written with no mention of the child’s name, and no indication of whether the child is a boy or a girl, thus making it easier for some young readers to inhabit the skin of the child exploring the island.

The text (about 5000 words) is illustrated with 17 black-&-white pencil sketches by Sally Bratt, with a colour pencil sketch for the cover. The book is for children aged 7 to 8 years.

Porcupine Chapter Books are intended for children to read in classrooms. They are not sold in bookstores, but can be purchased online from the publisher . A free online curriculum is available for each book in the series.

Janet Barkhouse’s contributions to this website include two reviews—the movie Touching Wild Horses, and the television documentary The Challenges of an Untamed Soul. She has also contributed to the Connections page.