BUMP, BUMP -- SLAP, river sockeye salmon are pulled onto shore! Set in the beautiful landscape of the Cariboo Chilcotin region, this is a delightful and colourful story of a father teaching his son the Secwepemc method of fishing known as dipnetting. Together they visit the sweat lodge, mend the nets, select the best fishing spot and catch and pack their fish through rugged bush back to the family home for traditional preparation. In his first book, Williams Lake Indian Band member Willie Sellars captures family values, the importance of storytelling, community living and coming of age in one of BC's oldest cultures. Debut artist Kevin Easthope's contemporary and dynamic illustrations bring the characters to life as they jump off the page and pull you into their world.
Willie Sellars was born and raised in Williams Lake, BC, and is a Member of the Williams Lake Indian Band of the Secwepemc Nation. He was elected onto band council at the age of 24 and is now serving his third term. Willie published his first childrens book, Dipnetting with Dad, in 2014, which won a Moonbeam Childrens Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Chocolate Lily, Shining Willow, and Ontario Library Association awards. Willie lives on the Sugar Cane Reserve in BC with his three children.
Kevin Easthope was born and raised in Williams Lake, BC. He attended UBC Okanagan where he graduated with a bachelor of fine arts degree in 2008. His artistic work spans a variety of mediums including oil painting, graphite and graphic design. While he is an artist and musician, he presently makes a living fighting forest fires for the Province of British Columbia.
This story is full of details on the dipnetting experience, but rather than making this a dull documentary of the dipnetting process, the author offers a fun and playful experience. The text, typically presented in shaded bubbles, is evenly distributed across the pages. The author splatters the text with alliteration and onomatopoeia to add playful elements to the story. Despite the fun characteristics of the text, the author is respectful of tradition, incorporating elements of tobacco offerings and sweat lodge prayers into the story
Illustrator Kevin Easthope picks up on Sellars playful notes with comic-like illustrations. The pencil crayon characters are colourful with exaggerated features. The illustrations emphasize the expressions and feelings of each character. The drawings are full of eye-catching details in the background and characters that are bursting with life in the foreground. The combination of text and illustration is highly complementary
Dipnetting With Dad is a fantastic, playful collaboration between text and illustrative art. Canadian Review of Materials
With action-packed illustrations that are larger than life, Dipnetting with Dad showcases the bond between father and son while introducing readers to a story of tradition and culture that needs to be told. Alan Woo, author of BC Book Prize-winning Maggies Chopsticks
Willies great book took me back to my own days of fishing on the river
[His] detailed description of the process from ceremony to enjoying the final product is true to our culture. The Indigenous cultures have so much to share and this book contributes to that distribution of this knowledge. Chief Bev Sellars, author of They Called Me Number One
