The main character of this book is Alex. Alex and his father likes to fish and they eat this type of dried fish called tamuuq and it comes from the halibut fish. Alex and his father sets out an overnight trap for fish to come, so when they get up the trap will be full of fish. Alex has special gloves that he wears to protect his hands from jellyfish stings and from the mesh of the nets. Alex caught so many different types of salmon: Pink Salmon, Red Salmon, Silver Salmon, and the biggest salmon is the Dog Salmon. Alex cleans the salmon as the seagulls watch from afar. Then he hangs them to dry and it takes about 10 days for the fish to get completely dry. There is a lot of extra fish for the smokehouse, people who are too old to fish, and for other types of birds that are nearby. When the fish is drying it is letting off all of the excess oil that may be on the fish. Alex picks salmon berries for jam. Then Alex and his father go and set up the crab traps. The bait for these traps are salmon pieces. Alex throws his bait and fishing pole out to catch a fish. He puts his finger on the line and waits until he feels a hard pull then he starts to reel it in to see what he caught. This is the process that Alex uses to make halibut.

I chose this book because it was very interesting and taught me a lot about the different types fish. I also liked how Alex provided lots of fish for the animals and the people who lived around him. I gave this book its rating because it taught me how to make a dried up fish. The book also taught the steps of how long it takes for the drying process and preparing of fresh fish. ( )

Picture Book
A young boy learns about the history of his family's culture and the process of catching and processing salmon. He has been waiting to be old enough to join his father on his fishing trips and help catch salmon and halibut. He learns that it is a long and difficult process to make the salmon just right for eating.
This book is filled with fantastic photographs and information. It is easier to understand each part of the process because of the photographs. Students in the classroom will learn about story structure with this story. It could be extended into a writing assignment. Students can retell the story in order by describing each step in the process of catching and processing salmon, or they could write their own process story about another subject.