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How to Catch a Fish
A FISHING TRIP AROUND THE WORLD Thirteen linked verses and handsome, mood-drenched paintings show how we catch fish--from New England to the Arctic, to Japan and Namibia and beyond. This lovely picture book--about fishing, geography, people and customs, and the bond between parent and child fishing together--will appeal to everyone who's cast a line in the water.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published October 2, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
July 15, 2018
Since we will be doing a bit of fishing soon, I got this book out from the library that I recalled reading a few years ago. Frank and illustrator Peter Sylvada takes us around the world where fishing happens: Tobago; Columbia River, Washington; Gap of Dunloe, Irlenad; Baffin Island; Nagara River, Japan; Montauk Point, New York; Okavango River, Namibia; New Caledonia; Ishi Pishi Falls, California; Fraser Canyon, British Columbia; Chattahoochee National Forest, Georgia; Kona, Hawaii; and northwest Florida.
I liked the gently rhyming poems for ages 4-8 a lot, though the hazy watercolors seems a little too muddy for me.
Ice Fishing, Baffin Island, Nunavut:
We chop a hole in the Arctic ice,
and crouched in layers of skins and fur
to shun the frigid weather - b-rrr-rr-
we bait our hooks and lower our lines
and jig them, up and down, to stir
the fish below - but if they're near,
we'll sometime use a well-aimed spear.
Fishwheel, Fraser Canyon, British Columbia:
Propelled by currents swift and strong,
our fishwheel rotates round and round,
its soft metallic hollow sound
as rhythmic as a beaten drum,
three giant baskets scooping up
the sockeye, steelhead, coho, chum
and dropping them inside a pen ---
then circling back for more again.
Here's the last one:
We slack our reels to free some line,
and as I mull which rig to tie,
a knowing wink escapes his eye;
I made my choice of hook and weight,
we fasten them, we set our bait,
then raise our rods, set loose our lines
above the ocean, way up high,
the two of us, my dad and I...
And that is how to catch a fish.
I liked the gently rhyming poems for ages 4-8 a lot, though the hazy watercolors seems a little too muddy for me.
Ice Fishing, Baffin Island, Nunavut:
We chop a hole in the Arctic ice,
and crouched in layers of skins and fur
to shun the frigid weather - b-rrr-rr-
we bait our hooks and lower our lines
and jig them, up and down, to stir
the fish below - but if they're near,
we'll sometime use a well-aimed spear.
Fishwheel, Fraser Canyon, British Columbia:
Propelled by currents swift and strong,
our fishwheel rotates round and round,
its soft metallic hollow sound
as rhythmic as a beaten drum,
three giant baskets scooping up
the sockeye, steelhead, coho, chum
and dropping them inside a pen ---
then circling back for more again.
Here's the last one:
We slack our reels to free some line,
and as I mull which rig to tie,
a knowing wink escapes his eye;
I made my choice of hook and weight,
we fasten them, we set our bait,
then raise our rods, set loose our lines
above the ocean, way up high,
the two of us, my dad and I...
And that is how to catch a fish.
September 4, 2008
This book has beautiful watercolor paintings and poetic image-laden text to describe the many ways people fish around the world. It's about much more than fishing, I think. Captivating for my 4.5yo and me.
March 25, 2017
Great vignettes of different fishing methods around the world. Unfortunately, the illustrations were much too simple for our little one to want to read again. Amazing how illustrations can make or break a kids' book.
December 12, 2017
Rather than just a straight forward approach to a how-to, this story, starts and ends with the personal, a young girl and her dad out in the water, and in-between tells cultural approaches to catching fish from around the world.
March 31, 2020
Not going to lie, it was kind of boring to me
February 14, 2019
Poetry - EL ED 340
May 31, 2018
Multicultural (depicts fishing on all continents) - Informational
Prose
Prose
May 12, 2015
How to Catch a Fish; written by John Frank, illustrated by: peter Sylvada; Copyright 2007, 30 pgs.
*Poetry #2*
The poems in this book all explain how to fish. Is there a correct way to fish? Who can you fish with? What can you fish with? Where can you fish? The poems in this story answer all of these questions. The best part is, you can hear answers from different areas and cultures of the world.
Wow, I absolutely loved these poems. Not only were each one of them well-written and powerful, but also showed a sense of community among a variety of cultures. It is crazy to think that something as simple as fishing can tie the world together. I will be having this book in my classroom, will read it aloud in lower grade classrooms such as 1st and 2nd, and would keep it in my classroom library for 3rd and up. What a wonderful poem book with so many meanings!
*Poetry #2*
The poems in this book all explain how to fish. Is there a correct way to fish? Who can you fish with? What can you fish with? Where can you fish? The poems in this story answer all of these questions. The best part is, you can hear answers from different areas and cultures of the world.
Wow, I absolutely loved these poems. Not only were each one of them well-written and powerful, but also showed a sense of community among a variety of cultures. It is crazy to think that something as simple as fishing can tie the world together. I will be having this book in my classroom, will read it aloud in lower grade classrooms such as 1st and 2nd, and would keep it in my classroom library for 3rd and up. What a wonderful poem book with so many meanings!
November 3, 2015
Originally rated G by Suzanna M. Couch
This is a picture book that contains beautiful oil paintings of seascapes with poetry. The poetry is rhythmic and targets different beaches with fishing of all types. There are a total of thirteen poems with paintings from around the world to include fishing in Turtle Bay, coho fishing in the Columbia River, fly fishing in Ireland, ice fishing in the Arctic, spear fishing in the southwest Pacific, and other specific regions of the world. Types of fishing include: angling, fly-fishing, ice, cormorant, surf casting, logboat, spear, dip-netting, deep-sea, and pier.
The artwork creates a mood to include sideline illustrations of various types of fish and lures. Other themes cover, parent and child, that are communicated thru poetry. Design is simple where the oil paintings are dominant.
This is a picture book that contains beautiful oil paintings of seascapes with poetry. The poetry is rhythmic and targets different beaches with fishing of all types. There are a total of thirteen poems with paintings from around the world to include fishing in Turtle Bay, coho fishing in the Columbia River, fly fishing in Ireland, ice fishing in the Arctic, spear fishing in the southwest Pacific, and other specific regions of the world. Types of fishing include: angling, fly-fishing, ice, cormorant, surf casting, logboat, spear, dip-netting, deep-sea, and pier.
The artwork creates a mood to include sideline illustrations of various types of fish and lures. Other themes cover, parent and child, that are communicated thru poetry. Design is simple where the oil paintings are dominant.
February 4, 2015
Beautiful poems, and fascinating glimpses of people around the world catching fish. The acrylic paintings however are kind of dark and gloomy, and a bit too monotonous, although I recognize that they are probably appropriate for the mood and the instances the book is trying to capture. If I thought the pictures were more engaging to a child I wouldn't hesitate to rate the book with four stars.
My favorite spread was probably the one from Japan, with the cormorants on leash catching fish for humans, even if the rings around their necks must be bordering on torture, yuck ... !
My favorite spread was probably the one from Japan, with the cormorants on leash catching fish for humans, even if the rings around their necks must be bordering on torture, yuck ... !
December 14, 2015
I would read this book aloud because it gives snapshots of different cultures. It helps students see how different cultures do the same thing, fishing, but with different methods. Everyone is unique and purposeful. This book speaks against stereotyping as it gives facts. The main idea of the story is the father showing his son that fishing is done but in different ways all around the world.
October 16, 2007
beautiful, and published by my outfit
October 15, 2008
This book may be informational, but it is slow and not at all engaging for a two-year-old boy. It put him to sleep, which is good, but it was also putting me to sleep.
January 1, 2016
Beautiful illustrations of how fishing is done around the world. It also shows what type of fish are caught as well as the differences between the countries fishing. Interesting to read.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews