She Dreams of Sable Island: A Paper Doll Book

The story, written in a lyrical style, begins with a girl having a dream in which she is carried to the fantastical landscape of Sable Island off the coast of Nova Scotia. Guided by animal companions, the girl enjoys the sounds and sights around the island, discovering its ecology and animal life while uncovering remnants of human contact in an otherwise undisturbed land.

Accompanying the text, the beautiful watercolor illustrations show the gentle relationship between the girl and the island’s seals and wild horses, represented by many scenes of the girl gently touching the animals. In contrast to the thriving wildlife, the island is completely devoid of human inhabitants, with the only signs of human contact being abandoned houses and wrecked ships half-buried in the sand.

Sable Island is a remote national park in the author/illustrator’s province of residence, and Briana Corr Scott expertly shares knowledge about the island through the story while providing additional information about the plants and wildlife on the island via an child-friendly appendix at the end of the book.

An unusual aspect of She Dreams of Sable Island relates to the book’s subtitle in that the book comes with four freestanding pages. On one page, there are two paper cut-outs, a girl (the girl from the book) and a wild pony. The other three pages contain 14 pieces of clothing that can be cut out and placed on the girl, with each piece of clothing being named after one of the plants or animals found on Sable Island.