Oregon's Journey

Oregon's Journey by Rascal
Illustrated by Louis Joos
1994

     "We met at a circus in Pittsburgh, Oregon and I. Watching him from behind the red curtain, I felt like a child again."  That's Duke, the dwarf clown and narrator of Oregon's Journey.  Duke works at the same circus as Oregon, a large brown bear.  One night, Oregon asks Duke to take him back to the big forest.  So their journey begins.  They leave the Circus and start a cross country adventure that will take them from Pittsburgh, through Chicago, Iowa, the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, all the way to Oregon.
     This is a beautiful story of friendship.  Duke keeps his promise to help Oregon be free in the forest and only after seeing his friend back in the wild, he feels "light at heart, and happy."  The language is poetic and the illustrations are haunting.  We are taken on a wonderful journey with Duke and Oregon.  This book stays with you long after you read it.