The Sockeye Mother

When you live in a city, you tend to get disconnected from nature.  We might see it in the park, and we might see it in our gardens, but we don't connect it all in our minds.  And this might be the problem with why so many people do not get that we really are interconnected.

This lovely, lush, beautifully illustrated picture book uses the example of the Sockeye salmon to explain how important it is to the existence of all life around it, not just the people, Gitxsan, of the Xsan (or River of Mists or the Colonial name of Skeena River). 

We learn the life's path of the Miso'o or the sockeye, from fry (their earliest form post egg) to their final breeding form, as the months change, and the different moons signal different things in the life of the fish.

This is a wonderful way to introduce children, and probably some adults, to just how important a small little fish can be, and why it is important to the Gitxsan rely on it.

Just look at these lovely pictures.





And there is a great youtube video that lets you hear all the Gitxsan words pronounced.


Highly recommended to children, libraries, schools, and homes.  A lovely book to own and look at, and perhaps, learn from.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Vibrant illustrations bring this non-fiction children's book to life, with the wonder of the sockeye salmon, which feeds the Gitxsan people, as well as the surrounding lands and forests, for which, they celebrate its return seasonally, with prayer and gratitude!

The Sockeye Mother by Hetxw’ms Gyetxw (Brett David Huson) and Natasha Donovan is a beautiful non-fiction story about the importance of the sockeye salmon to the Gitxsan people.  Providing the reader with a detailed look at the sockeye salmon lifecycle, this book serves as an important reminder to us all about the interconnectedness of all species.  If one species isn’t allowed to fulfill their destiny, so to speak, we all can suffer as a result.  The Sockeye Mother is the perfect book to add to your science reading.  Huson’s love of science is reflected through his caring take on the sockeye’s journey, providing the reader with scientific terminology (with definitions) throughout.  Putting the terminology in the story where the word is encountered is so key for young readers.  No one wants to have to turn to the back of the book every time to find the definition of a word.  Also, including many of the Gitxsan words, as well as the link to a pronunciation guide at the back, is the perfect touch.  The reader can sense the importance of the sockeye to the Gitxsan people throughout the book, while also learning about the environment, lifecycles, and stewardship.  Information about the Gitxsan themselves can be found on the information page at the back of the book.   I absolutely love the beautiful art by Natasha Donovan, taking us through the life of the Miso’o, sockeye, while providing a glimpse of the life that goes on around the Xsan, Skeena River, and including some recognizable traditional Gitxsan imagery hidden throughout.  The Sockeye Mother is a book that should make its way into all school libraries and science classes.