Kumak's Fish

On a beautiful Arctic morning, Kumak looks out the window of his house at the sun rising over the frozen river. "Ahhh, spring," says Kumak to his family. "The days are long, the nights are short, and the ice is still hard. Good day for fish." Eager to give Uncle Aglu's amazing hooking stick a try, Kumak packs up his family and heads out to go ice fishing. "Good day for fish!" they all agree. Hapless Kumac is the only one in his family without fish until the tug at the other end of his line incites a mighty battle. A clever ending reveals that the whale-sized fish that Kumak imagined was actually a line of small fish in tug o' war position. Kumak reigns, and there's plenty for everybody. Authentic details throughout the playful art and text, as well as endnotes on Inupiat fishing, provide young readers with a fascinating window into another culture in this follow up to KUMAK'S HOUSE a 2003 Children's Book Council Notable Trade Book in Social Studies.

On a beautiful Arctic morning when Kumak and his family go ice fishing, Kumak hooks what seems like an enormous fish, and the entire village gets involved.

On a beautiful Arctic morning, Kumak looks out the window of his house at the sun rising over the frozen river. "Ahhh, spring," says Kumak to his family. "The days are long, the nights are short, and the ice is still hard. Good day for fish." Eager to give Uncle Aglu's amazing hooking stick a try, Kumak packs up his family and heads out to go ice fishing. "Good day for fish!" they all agree. Hapless Kumac is the only one in his family without fish until the tug at the other end of his line incites a mighty battle. A clever ending reveals that the whale-sized fish that Kumak imagined was actually a line of small fish in tug o' war position. Kumak reigns, and there's plenty for everybody. Authentic details throughout the playful art and text, as well as endnotes on Inupiat fishing, provide young readers with a fascinating window into another culture in this follow up to KUMAK'S HOUSE a 2003 Children's Book Council Notable Trade Book in Social Studies.

Sheilah Egan - Children's Literature

"Good day for fish." This is the refrain echoed by Kumak's wife, mother-in-law, and children after he has observed that the " . . . days are long. The nights are short, and the ice is still hard. Good day for fish." So he packs the entire family on the sled to head for the frozen lake at the mouth of the river. Everyone settles down at his/her own fishing hole and each exhibits great patience while waiting to catch a fish. The illustrations are a wonderful mirror of the details of their clothing, preparations for the trip, and their method of fishing. The obvious authenticity is a tribute to the observations made by Bania in her own experience living in the Arctic for the past two decades (she and her husband now live on Alaska's Kenai Peninsula). The tale takes an amusing turn as Kumak is the last to hook a fish using the famous "hooking stick," that had been lovingly carved by Uncle Aglu many years before. But little does he realize just what he has hooked. After he is unable to land the fish, he calls on each member of his family to help pull the fish out onto the ice. All of their efforts are to no avail and so the rest of the village must come to the aid of Kumak and his family. It is touch and go for a while but patience and perseverance are the watch words of the day and the fine catch is finally landed. Everyone is amazed to see that they have caught a long line of fish, each one holding on to the preceding fish just as Kumak's family and the villagers had all been holding on to each other. This is a wonderful blending of an old way of life and a "tall tale," balancing the ideas of cooperation, sharing, patience, and traditions of the area's people. Bania explains the inspirationfor the story in the back matter. There are also helpful pronunciation tips for a couple of the Inupiat names. This is the sequel to Kumak's House. Both books will be useful for educators but families will enjoy sharing these humorous stories as well. 2004, Alaska Northwest Books, Ages 3 to 8.

Bania lived for almost 20 years above the Arctic Circle.