I’s the B’y: The Beloved Folk Song

I’s the B’y is a rollicking dance party of a song from Newfoundland. Lauren Soloy has illustrated the song with traditional Newfoundland scenes, provided simple musical noting, and has added notes to explain some of the more obscure Newfoundland words and customs.

The illustrations employ a rich earthy palette of reds, browns and greens. The cast of characters includes a merman, a moose, a cod, a rabbit, puffins, seagulls and a multicultural group of humans. There is a boy with two prosthetic legs as well. There are clothes and filleted fish on the clotheslines and flakes. Also depicted are rainbows in the spring and skating in the winter. There are musicians on every page.

Twice a group of characters are depicted in a dory. Unfortunately, the rowers are depicted facing the direction of travel. When a dory is rowed, the rowers have their backs to the direction of travel. A small detail, but I found it disturbing.

We enjoyed reading the book in our home. My daughter, my three-year- old granddaughter, and I found ourselves humming and singing the tune and joining in a dance. We even managed to get our tongues around “Fogo, Twillingate, Moreton’s Harbour, All around the circle.” The illustrations were engaging. The sheet music for the song was clear and easy to play from, including chords for guitar or ukulele. The “Notes from the Illustrator” explained a few unusual items, like pink potato salad and mermen. On the whole, I’s the B’y: The Beloved Folk Song is a pleasant souvenir of Newfoundland.