A kid goes fishing with his parents and builds confidence with a new skill.

A young boy spends the day fly-fishing with his grandfather and mother in this lovely picture-book from author Andrew Weiner and illustrator April Chu. Listening to his grandfather's stories about his mother's first attempts, the boy feels somewhat insecure, especially after his first cast lands his line in a tree. Then his grandfather shares the story of his own first cast, while patiently helping the boy with his efforts...

I have never fished in my life, and know next to nothing about the subject, but the great fondness that Weiner has for the activity, and the sense of family closeness that it engenders in his characters, is readily apparent while reading Down by the River. This is as much family story as it is fishing adventure, although young children will certainly learn a great deal about fly-fishing, if they don't know it already. The artwork by Chu, done in charcoal pencil and then colored digitally, is really quite lovely. I particularly appreciated the decorative end-papers, which show a variety of flies used by fishermen. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books about fishing and/or families interacting with one another in the natural world. ( )