The Sheeps’ Journey

The Sheeps’ Journey was written by 10-year-old Brynne Storey, a grade four student from North Vancouver. She was the winner of the 2020 Ripple Foundation’s Kids Write 4 Kids annual writing contest for youth in grades 4-8. This program aims to motivate young writers and improve their writing skills. “Participants are encouraged to find their voice and gain confidence in their choices and skills as a writer.” (p. iii)

The Sheeps’ Journey begins on the planet of Marllile. Here, the most intelligent creatures are the sheep, but they have to deal with creatures which walk on two legs and want to take their wool! Pan is a white sheep; however, his many siblings all have different colours of wool. Pan has a problem because his family dislikes him and has even nicknamed him, “Pan the Bad.”

The only exception is his sister Katie whose wool is black. They love to play together, and one day, they get very dirty. His mother sees his dirty wool and throws him out of the sheep cave. He feels very resentful, angry, sad and lonely. In his distraught mood, he ventures into the foreboding forest “where sheep went in and never came out.” Katie follows him, and the pair ends up in an abandoned Fur-Less shed.

On their journey, they encounter a vicious cougar named Castor who wounds Pan’s leg very badly. Their only hope is to find a mysterious portal leading to a special planet called Earth. On this planet, “All the sheep look like us.” (p. 13) The portal leads the pair to a new life!

This book imagines what it might be like to live life as a sheep. The two main characters, Pan and Katie, are playful and adventurous; however, their sheep family rejects them. Their journey to a new life on planet Earth is a dangerous one full of evil cougars and strange portals. However, their courage and perseverance leads them to a place full of “joy, harmony, and health.” (p. 29)

The young writer of this short novella, Brynne Storey, should be proud of her accomplishment. She fulfilled her dream of becoming a published writer. In doing so, her book examined themes of family relationships, courage, trust, bullying, fear, discovery, change, determination, disability, and redemption.