CanLit for LittleCanadians: Out on the Trail
Written by Bonnie Morgan
Illustrated by Molly Margaret
Running the Goat, Books & Broadsides Inc.
32 pp.
Ages 0-4
June 2025
Out on the trail
Just you and me.
I look to the left
And what do I see?
Newfoundlanders Bonnie Morgan and Molly Margaret takes young readers out on the trail to see an ocean, a brook, a cloud, a beach, a rock, and footprints. Those are the words that Bonnie Morgan emphasizes–they are the only bolded and coloured text–in her rhyming text. But Out on the Trail is not just about learning a few simple words from the natural world; it’s also about seeing that natural world.
 |
| From Out on the Trail, written by Bonnie Morgan, illustrated by Molly Margaret |
As readers are instructed to look up and down and elsewhere, they are treated to amazingly bold and detailed digital artwork by Molly Margaret. We get to walk along a trail to see different forests and ecosystems; to witness the abundance of life and activity on land, in the sea, and in the air; and to think about what they are seeing and compare it to other scenes they’ve witnessed. While Molly Margaret doesn’t always seem to use typical colours in her natural settings, she actually stays true to their essence. That purple ocean could be reflective of the wild waters and those blue stones just edging towards steel grey. But forget the colours and just focus on those vivid shapes that carry the reader along those trails and into those scenes of the spirited environment.
 |
| From Out on the Trail, written by Bonnie Morgan, illustrated by Molly Margaret |
While Out on the Trail is not a concept book, it could be used effectively as one. Between those simple concepts from nature, there are also the positional words like left and right, up and down, and ahead and behind. Moreover, as that child is out on the trail for a walk with their parent, our very youngest can develop their early observational skills and, as such, their visual literacy skills. That’s a lot of story from a picture book with minimal text and basic rhymes.
 |
|
|
Bonnie Morgan and Molly Margaret may be taking readers along trails in Newfoundland and Labrador–the ocean and icebergs are giveaways to the setting–but Out on the Trail offers much more than a guide to local surroundings. It’s an opportunity for a child to connect with a parent or guardian, enjoy the outdoor world, even vicariously, and to discover more beyond their own world.
