A Salmon for Simon

Simon has always longed to catch a salmon. But when his luck suddenly changes and an eagle accidentally drops one into a tidal pool, Simon is torn between sympathy for the fish and the desire to catch something of his own.

All summer long, Simon, a young First Nations boy, has been desperate to catch a salmon. He goes fishing every day, but has no luck. Then one day a high-flying eagle drops a salmon into a clam hole right before his eyes, and Simon must decide whether to take it home or let it go.

This simple story with its evocative watercolor paintings of the Northwest Coast, was an environmental fable before its time when it was first published in 1978. But its true power rests in the magical combination of text and pictures, which have made it a best-selling classic.

Betty Waterton (1923-2012) was the author of nineteen children’s books, including the Quincy Rumpel novels and a number of well-loved picture books. Over the course of her writing career she traveled all over Canada giving readings to children. For many years she lived on Canada’s West Coast, where A Salmon for Simon, her first picture book, takes place.

Ann Blades is one of Canada’s leading illustrators. Her distinctive watercolors appear in many children’s books, including A Salmon for Simon, which won the Governor General’s Award for Illustration and the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award, By the Sea: An Alphabet Book, which won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award, and A Dog Came, Too by Ainslie Manson. She is also the author and illustrator of Mary of Mile 18, for which she won the Canadian Library Association’s Book of the Year for Children Award. Ann returned to teaching in 2001 and now teaches kindergarten at an inner-city school in Surry, British Columbia.