A family wordlessly paddles, camps, and wanders their way through the Boundary Waters between Minnesota and Canada.A double-page spread depicts an interracial family in a station wagon, small in scale against the vastness of the surrounding forest. (One parent has brown skin and straight, black hair while the other parent presents White; the child has straight, black hair and light-brown skin.) A canoe sits atop the vehicle, a pop of red against the greenery. The page turn takes the passengers further down a dirt road. A sign declares the land the B.W.C.A Wilderness of the Superior National Forest. On the next page, the family of three-wearing life jackets and with hiking packs heaped around-is in the canoe, rowing past lily pads and into a lake. Their adventure continues as they portage their canoe and find a campsite before rain and night fall. For a few days, the family continues their excursion-tender moments aplenty-until finally changing course to go back the way they came. Though the outdoor setting and story will have wide appeal, Owens' attention to detail adds a distinctly Minnesotan flair. In particular, the careful inclusion of local flora and fauna-such as blueberries, birch trees, bald eagles, and moose-suggests firsthand experience. The wordless text evokes the peaceful quiet of being outdoors, culminating in a particularly beautiful spread of a starry sky. The illustrations, rich with textured lines and a distinctive color palette, effectively capture the majestic scenery. Double-page spreads with landscape orientation heighten the sense of distance traveled.A trip worth taking. (Picture book. 4-8)

A brown-skinned child initially seems dubious about a canoeing and backpacking trip to what an author-s note from debut author Owens clarifies is Minnesota-s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. On the adventure-s first leg, via a long canoe stacked with supplies, the figure sits a bit sullenly between two adults, one white and one brown-skinned. But nature is powerful magic, whether it takes the form of a curtain of gray rain, water dappled with reflections of fluffy clouds, or a belt of silvery stars stretching across a night sky. While too small to portage the canoe, the child begins to engage throughout the cozy spreads, taking up a paddle, delighting in the tent, picking wild blueberries, helping to fish for dinner, and waving at a moose who shares the water; the adults enjoy solitude and partnership, too. Debut author Owens uses no words in these pages, and readers won-t miss them-digitally colored pencil illustrations, with their impressionistic touches of color, texture, and shape, exude a plainspoken eloquence. He adeptly portrays both big geographic expanses and wholly intimate moments of an affectionate family free from everyday distractions. Ages 3-up. (Sept.)