Michelle Renner

Not sure how old this story is--whether it's traditional or a newer tale created to keep traditions alive. The note in front is ambiguous, and the story tries to both teach how to cure salmon for winter storage and show that the tribe already does this...so it doesn't quite seem like an origin tale. I'm also not convinced the science side could have been known without at least a way to tag fish... Anyway, the story is interesting--girl turns into a king salmon and travels with them--but feels a little too much like a lecture/cultural info dump to hold kids' attention. Wish it had leaned a little harder on story and lighter on facts. Beautiful illustrations.… (mer)

In this Athabascan legend, a girl turns into a salmon for a few years and upon her return she is able to bring back the secrets from the salmon about the way they would like to be treated by people. The story begins with the girl watching the salmon returning to the river and she accidentally falls in and becomes a salmon herself. In the years she is gone, she goes through the life cycle of a salmon and learns the most respectful practices that her people can do when using salmon for sustenance. This is a great story! I will be using this story with my fifth graders during our salmon unit this year (we raise the eggs in class and release the fry). My students are currently learning about the salmon lifecycle and would find it relevant to what we are studying in science. The beauty of using this text, though, is to add a literary element to our science study by reading, discussing and writing about Native American legends. We could first talk about what makes a legend a legend and learn about the genre. Then we would identify where the Athabascan people are from and see how that correlates with where we know salmon live. Then after reading the legend we could identify the parts that make it a legend—turning into a fish, for example. We would identify through discussion or writing what the lesson learned is and how it connects to the lives of the Athabascan people. I think my students are going to love this book and I think they will appreciate that upon returning to the river to spawn, she is able to turn back into a human and be reconnected with her family instead of dying. My students are befuddled by this fact about the salmon lifecycle!

The illustrations are beautifully done and definitely seem to be reflective of Native American themes and mood, I think. The lines and the coloring/tones seem to lend themselves to Native American folklore/legends. Discussing how the illustrations enhance the text with students would be another worthwhile conversation to have with children.… (mer)

This retelling of an Alaskan legend tells the story of a girl who sits by the side of the river and waits for the salmon to come. Finally, they do, and she is so surprised that she falls in the river and becomes a fish. For many years, she swims with the fish, listening to their secrets. Finally, she returns to her family and tells them what she has learned. For example, the fish agree that they will only return to people who keep their knives sharp. From the day the girl returns, her family does everything the fish want, and the salmon return year after year.

This story illustrates the importance of the life cycle, as well as respecting your environment. The fish won't return to people who leave their drying salmon out in the rain because that rots the meat. The people learn how to respect this main source of food, and passing this story down will teach their children.

The illustrations were the only difficulty for me. The fish-girl retains her human face as a fish, and the artwork is just awkward. Add to this the somewhat bland palette, and you have a story that works mostly on its content, not its illustrations.

For ages 6 - 9.… (mer)