Take Me Fishin' Too, Daddy, Please

Madeleine J. Bailey was the College Librarian in the Learning Resources Centre at Mount Royal College in Calgary.

Gord Deval, North American Casting Championship gold medalist in 1984, has represented Canada many times in World Class angling. A recognized expert, he is prolific in the sports media. Told within the fictional framework of a small boy who wants to go fishing with his father, this book is an easy-to-read manual of fishing technique. Aimed at a young audience, each chapter expands on the information previously given, with a point-form recapitulation toward the end, a glossary, and a map of the author’s favourite fishing spots. The boy’s instructor takes the form of Uncle Bob, a grizzled old angler who appears in young Jason’s dreams. This cumbersome device would have been better left out, with Jason’s father doing the teaching. The role of both parents seems strange: conversations between them and Jason are a model of good parenting, yet his father spends every weekend away fishing while his mother leaves nine-year-old Jason alone in the house to cook his own supper.

While the cover is attractive, simplistic drawings by David Sheridan do little other than break up the text.