ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
SCIENCE

Salmon Run: An Epic Journey to the Ocean and Back

40 pp. | Red Comet | November, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9781636551654 $19.99
(2) K-3 “On a crisp autumn day, a Pacific salmon is born.” From an embryo inside an egg to the just-hatched alevin stage to a fry, the salmon’s early life is fraught with danger at every turn. It remains so as she swims down the river to Puget Sound and into the open ocean, where she will spend most of her adult life. After a couple of years, she heeds the instinctive urge to return to her birthplace, so back she swims -- upstream -- against the treacherous currents until she reaches the place and deposits her eggs (the fertilization process goes unmentioned) in a nest of protective rocks. The text straightforwardly communicates the life cycle of the salmon, while the watercolor-esque illustrations, dominated by blues, greens, and reds, are both beautiful and informative. Maps and time-lapse images are seamlessly incorporated into the art, while the upper-left corner of each double-page spread indicates how many days have passed in the life cycle. Chen’s debut children’s book is sure to inspire a sense of wonder and awe in respect to the natural world in general and coho salmon in particular. Back matter includes information about the fish, their life cycle, and the author’s formative inspiration and creative process.
Reviewer: Jonathan Hunt | Horn Book Magazine Issue: November, 2025

RELATED 

SCIENCE

How to Build an Insect
by Gibson, Roberta
SCIENCE

A Quick History of Math
by Gifford, Clive
SCIENCE

Butterflies Are Pretty...Gross!
by Mosco, Rosemary
SCIENCE

Summertime Sleepers
by Stewart, Melissa
SCIENCE

Birds
by Krestovnikoff, Miranda
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?