Salmon Run: An Epic Journey to the Ocean and Back

K-Gr 2–Chen’s debut children’s book explores the life cycle of a type of Pacific salmon called a coho salmon. Through realistic and expressive watercolor illustrations, readers journey with an embryo on the banks of the Pacific Northwest’s Duwamish River to adulthood in the Pacific Ocean and back. A salmon’s life, both in youth and maturity, can be a treacherous one; predators like otters and larger fish are a real danger. That’s where some really neat adaptations come into play—like markings that help a young salmon blend into its scenery to protect itself. Each page features a span of days that represents phases of the fish’s growth. The narrative comes full circle, beginning with coho salmon eggs and concluding with a fully grown salmon laying eggs of her own. Scientific jargon is sprinkled throughout but isn’t a focal point of the text. There are enough interesting facts here to delight most nature or animal lovers. Chen includes a panel of facts and terms in the back for those hungry for more.