There are many stories of how maple syrup was discovered but none as moving as the fictionalized one told in Maple Moon, where maple syrup is only one of the discoveries made.

Crook tells the story of a young native boy who has a limp. Although his name is Rides the Wind (he gets around quickly by sled dog), some of the more cruel boys call him Limping Leg. He cannot play active games with the other children and he spends a lot of time alone.

It is almost spring, after a hard winter. The people are hungry but there is no food. One day, in the woods, Rides the Wind sees a squirrel drinking sap from a maple tree. Intrigued, he tastes some of the sweet water himself. Then he gets an idea: he makes a cut in the tree and collects sap in a birch-bark bucket that he takes back to his parents. His mother, angry that he has been gone so long, takes the bucket and, thinking it is just water, pours the contents into a clay pot where she’s cooking some deer meat. Hours later, when people have tasted the sweet meat and enjoyed it, they question Rides the Wind, who leads the chief to the tree. Because of his discovery, Rides the Wind is given a new, more noble name – Wise Little Raven – for he has found a way to help feed his people.

Visually appealing and well-told, this story is one of transformation: sap is transformed into delicious syrup, and Limping Leg into Wise Little Raven. Connie Brummel Crook’s sensitive telling and ear for language make the story echo in the reader’s heart long afterward. She captures the boy’s loneliness, his curiosity, and his need to find a place in his community. In a historical note at the end, the author tells how she arrived at her story and how native people shared their knowledge of maple syrup with early Canadian settlers.

Scott Cameron’s oil-on-canvas illustrations, done in browns, yellows, and blue-greys, are rich and warm. Conveying historical detail, they build on the strong narrative to create an excellent balance between text and illustrations. It’s a lovely book, from start to finish.