The Fish in the Polka Dot Dress

The Fish in the Polka
Dot Dress
Written by Nancy Meagher with special assistance and
collaboration from Dominique Gamache and Aliyah Sanders
Illustrated by Gill Elementary and Montague Elementary
School Art Students
Edited by Carol Berner, Program Coordinator of River of
Words in the Connecticut River Watershed
Photography and Layout by Elise Trelegan
Dedicated to Chelsea Gwyther for inviting children be a friend
to the Connecticut River
Publisher: Connecticut River Watershed Council, Inc.
ISBN: 978-0-9815739-1-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012944297
A young Salmon finds a Polka Dot
dress floating in the Connecticut
River. She puts it on and becomes
excited about all the Trash in the
River. She finds a sofa floating and
hops onto it. She dreams about
becoming Human…
Look at the fish in the Polka Dot dress
She’s floating, she’s smiling—
She’s looking her best.
3
“I am a Salmon,” she said with a sigh.
“But—I want to be human and I’ll tell
you why.
Humans are lovely when they look their
best.
What do you think of my Polka Dot
dress?
I’d love a red sports car that matches
my dress—
A cart for food shopping—
And you know the rest.”
4
“I’d love sofas and toasters, big fridges
and freezers
A soft comfy bed, a computer with
speakers. I’d love soda pop, bicycles, carpets and
tires.
Bar-b-ques...
Lots of shoes — My heart’s desires.”
****
Her sofa kept floating and she was a star.
But under the spotlights her dream went
too far. She got caught in some fish wire And that made her frown. 7
“I’m the catch of the day! — I’m the talk
of the town!” Her sofa stopped moving. Oh — This
fish was caught! More trash piled upon her. She had a
brief thought:
“I’m stuck in a pile-up from bottom to
top!” 8
A phone floated near her—a phone
book as well— She flipped through the pages— She started to yell: “Give me Source To Sea Cleaners! They’ll clean up this mess!”
10
Chorus
“Three cheers for the fish in the Polka
Dot Dress!”
She squirmed and waited. “I don’t need your trash!
I don’t need your Styrofoam, old cans
of Hash!”
13
“And…I don’t need this dress— I HAVE SPOTS OF MY OWN!”
Source To Sea Cleaners arrive on the
scene…children follow with buckets
and orange rubber gloves and nets Chorus They came by the thousands from
Source and From Sea They came by the thousands for you
and for me So—don’t trash the River— It’s really not fair— For fish and small creatures Make their living there. 14
17
This book is made possible in part by funding
from:
Frances R. Dewing Foundation
and
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, Inc.
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The Connecticut River Watershed Council
(CRWC) advocates for the entire four-state
Connecticut River watershed, protecting the
river, its tributaries, lakes, fish; and the land,
plants, and creatures connected to that water.
River of Words in the Connecticut River
Watershed (ROW-CT River) is a place-based
art and poetry program designed to promote
watershed awareness, literacy and the arts in
partnership with the CRWC. Find us at
http://row.ctriver.org/
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ISBN: 978-0-9815739-1-5