When a Muslim community in Inuvik, 200 kilometers north of the Arctic Circle, outgrows its makeshift house of worship, a new mosque is delivered from the other end of the country. The Midnight Sun mosque is built in Winnipeg and loaded onto a truck to begin its 4,470-kilometer journey across Canada. Along the way, many people assist in the passage of such a wide load: moving road signs, directing traffic, lifting power lines, widening bridges, and sharing the road. The mosque arrives at the Hay River in time to board the final barge of the season, which will carry the Midnight Sun the last 1,800 kilometers to its destination. In Inuvik, the mosque receives its final touches. A carpenter travels there to build a minaret, and the people of Inuvik paint the interior walls and furnish the building with care. When the work is complete, the entire community—Muslims, Christians, Gwich’in First Nation Elders, and others—comes together to celebrate with a feast. A muted palette and clean art style accompany the straightforward narrative of a great feat of cooperation and community support.  ©2022 Cooperative Children’s Book Center   (Ages 3-6)

This is the true story of the journey of the Midnight Sun Mosque.

In 2010 a Winnipeg-based charity raised funds to build and ship a mosque to Inuvik, one of the most northern towns in Canada’s Arctic. A small but growing Muslim community there had been using a cramped trailer for their services, but there just wasn't enough space. The mosque travelled over 4,000 kilometers on a journey fraught with poor weather, incomplete bridges, narrow roads, low traffic wires and a deadline to get on the last barge heading up the Mackenzie River before the first winter freeze. But it made it just in time and is now one of the most northern mosques in the world.

This beautiful picture book reminds us that the collective dream of fostering a multicultural and tolerant Canada exists and that people of all backgrounds will come together to build bridges and overcome obstacles for the greater good of their neighbors.