Ink & Imagination! Willie Poll & Chantelle Trainor-Matties Interview Each Other About A SALMON STORY

The journey of a young fish becomes the heart of A Salmon Story: Protecting the Future (OwlKids Books), a lyrical and informative picture book that traces the life cycle of wild salmon while asking readers to consider what threatens their survival. From gravel beds in freshwater streams to the vast ocean and back again, the story follows these mighty fish along migration routes travelled for thousands of years.

Along the way, the book delves into the growing impact of open net-pen fish farming, where waste and disease can spill into surrounding waters and harm wild populations. Salmon are shown not only as remarkable travellers but as a keystone species, essential to ecosystems and deeply connected to many Indigenous Nations whose cultures and food systems have long depended on them. The narrative makes the clear and irrefutable point that protecting salmon means protecting entire communities and environments.

Created by Willie Poll and Chantelle Trainor-Matties, the book pairs accessible nonfiction detail with rhythmic, poetic language. Bold illustrations rooted in Northwest Coast formline traditions give the story visual power and cultural grounding. A Salmon Story invites young readers to understand both the science and the responsibility involved in caring for wild salmon and the waters they call home.

Questions from Chantelle Trainor-Matties, Answered by Willie Poll

Chantelle Trainor-Matties:

Did you tweak or revise anything after seeing how the pictures worked with the story?

Willie Poll:

This is one of those stories where factual details matter so much. It was my first nonfiction book, and I wasn’t prepared for the level of research and attention to small details that would be required — but Chantelle was! She visually conveyed the information with such accuracy, and often the images reflected the story even better than the text.

Honestly, this is a book where text edits were made much later in the process than usual, and I’m so glad they were. We also had incredible subject matter experts review the manuscript. Based on their feedback, we reorganized parts of the story to better show the impact of fish farms on juvenile salmon. Those changes made a huge difference and really completed the book.

CTM:

Did any of the artwork inspire new lines or ideas in the text for you?

WP:

I wouldn’t say the artwork inspired new lines in the text — but it definitely made me want to write entire books about certain pieces. The grizzly bear and the orca coming face to face on the ocean’s bank is so beautiful and powerful — they deserve their own stories.

There’s so much more I could have said after seeing the art. Writing for kids is challenging because you have so few words to tell such a big story.

CTM:

Which page or spread surprised you most once you saw it fully illustrated?

WP:

I would have to say the very first spread. I wrote the introduction from the perspective of the salmon mother passing into the spirit world. I had no idea what to expect visually, but it quickly became my favourite piece of art in the book.

The way Chantelle placed the eye of the salmon in the moon and created a spirit-like salmon dancing toward the sky is truly incredible.

CTM:

Were there things you wanted to include in the story but cut for clarity or space?

WP:

Absolutely. The impact of fish farms on wild salmon is a huge topic. I would have loved to include more about the effects on other animals and wildlife, as well as more about salmon’s connection to old-growth forests.

Salmon are such an extraordinary fish and such a crucial part of the ecosystem — I could have written multiple books about them. It’s also a challenging subject to bring to young readers. My hope is that the story is clear and engaging, and that our youngest water protectors find inspiration in it.

Questions from Willie Poll, Answered by Chantelle Trainor-Matties

Willie Poll:

When you first read my story, which moment immediately came alive for you in pictures?

Chantelle Trainor-Matties:

Definitely page two, where the spirit of the mother salmon is ascending. As soon as I read those words, I had an immediate vision of how to illustrate the spirit salmon.

It has become one of my favourite illustrations in the book — I even have it framed. I love how it stands alone as an image, but also serves as the opening to the salmon’s incredible journey. It felt like the perfect way to begin such a meaningful story.

WP:

How did you land on the book’s overall look — the style and the colour choices?

CTM:

When I was hired for the book, it was specifically for my contemporary Northwest Coast formline style, which connects to my Nisga’a ancestry. I often finalize my formline work in vector — bold, solid, and graphic — but for this children’s book I wanted to be more playful. I chose to use a textured digital brush to give the appearance of crayons or coloured pencils.

I enjoy blending formline with cartoon elements, and I think that approach worked beautifully with the story.

There was a lot of information to illustrate, so to keep the focus on the fish, I rendered the humans as silhouettes. They’re present, but they don’t distract from the salmon. I love colour and tend to use bright, eye-catching palettes. That was true here as well — I wanted to grab readers’ attention while keeping the overall tone soft and inviting.

WP:

How did you capture the characters’ emotions through expressions and body language?

CTM:

That’s an interesting question because the focus of the book is the salmon, who are mostly swimming in one direction throughout their journey. Many of them are illustrated in formline, and the humans appear as silhouettes.

While the silhouettes don’t have facial expressions, I was able to rely on body language. I used different poses to show people conversing, observing the salmon, advocating to protect them, and celebrating their success through cultural drumming.

For the salmon illustrated in a more cartoon style, I conveyed emotion primarily through the eyes whenever possible. I also played with colour — darker, murkier tones for sadder scenes and bright, vibrant colours for moments of hope and joy.

WP:

Was there a spread that really pushed your sense of pacing or layout?

CTM:

Any spread featuring people watching the salmon along their journey required careful attention to perspective. To create depth, I played with the relative size of fish, humans, and environment.

For example, salmon fry are incredibly small compared to humans. But in order to show details, I illustrated the fry larger to suggest they are closer to the reader, while placing smaller human silhouettes farther in the distance. This allowed readers to see the visual details of the different salmon life stages throughout the book.

___________________________________________

Willie Poll is a Métis author from the Robinson Huron Treaty Territory and a proud member of the Métis Nation of Ontario. Willie has worked in Indigenous education across the Nation for over ten years. She currently resides on Prince Edward Island as a guest on the traditional lands of the Wabanaki and Mi’kma’ki people.

Chantelle Trainor-Matties is an Indigenous artist with Nisga’a, Métis, and mixed European ancestry, working as an illustrator, graphic designer, painter, and muralist through her independent art practice, Frettchan Studios. She lives in Abbotsford, British Columbia, on the unceded territory of the Sto:lo Peoples.