Higgins Bend Song and Dance is the tall-tale of a poor
fisherman named Simon Henry who lives
on the river by Higgins Bend and swears he can catch anything that
"swims, crawls, or floats." His friend Potato Kelly, who owns the
bait and chowder shop near Higgins Bend bets Simon Henry that he
cannot catch the wily catfish, Oscar. When Oscar steals Simon Henry's
doughballs, his fat redworms and his best five day old secret recipe
stinkbait the contest is on and Simon Henry vows "to get up early,
work late, and sleep in my boots" until that fish is caught.
If you like fishing, like rivers, or just like to laugh, you will like
this story.
You may not live near a river but you
can make chowder and you can
surround yourself with fish.
First, the fish--
Fish come in all shapes--round,
long, tear-dropped shaped, ovals. Some
fish are brightly colored. Some are drab. If you want your fish to
look like real fish, find some pictures in an encyclopedia or other
book and study them. Try to make your fish look like them. Or you can
make up imaginary fish.
Find two pieces of paper that
are just the
same size.
Draw your fish on one piece
of paper.
Cut the fish out.
Use the cut out fish as
a pattern to draw the same shape on the second piece of paper.
Have an
adult help you staple the two pieces of paper together at the tail
section.
Now color your fish, as fancy as you want.
Crumple small pieces of
newspaper and put them in the stapled tail
section to fill out your fish.
With the help of an adult
staple the
body section and add more crumpled newspaper.
Continue stapling and
filling, finishing with the head section.
Put thread through your fish to hang it somewhere in your
home.
Making Corn Chowder --
Wash four potatoes carefully. (If
you get them very clean you will not
need to peel.)
Cut the potatoes into small
pieces.
Melt 2 Tablespoons of
butter or margerine in a pot.
Add the potatoes and one large onion
that someone has peeled and chopped. (If you don't like onion, add 2
T. of dried, minced onion. You won't notice it but it will add
flavor.)
Cook for a couple of minutes at medium heat.
Add one cup of water and cook for 10
minutes until potatoes are soft. Then:
Add three cups of corn (drained
canned corn or frozen corn).
Cook for five more minutes.
Add three cups of milk, 1/2 tsp. salt, and pepper to
taste.
Let chowder sit on the stove while
you and a friend read a stack of good books. The flavor improves if it
sits for a couple of
hours before eating.
You might be interested in these
stories about fish --
McKissack, Patricia. A
Million Fish More or Less Illustrated by Dena Schutzer. Dragonfly,
1996 pb.
Roth, Roger. Fishing for
Methuselah. HarperCollins, 1998.
Creech, Sharon. Fishing in
the Air. Illustrated by Chris Raschka. HarperCollins 2000.
Wells, Rosemary. The
Fisherman and His Wife. Illustrated by Eleanor Hubbard. Dial, 1998.
Franklin, Kristine. The
Gift. Illustrated by Barbara Lavalee. Chronicle, 1999.
Waldron, Kathleen Cook. Loon
Lake Fishing Derby. Illustrated by Dean Griffiths. Orca, 1999.
Higgins Bend Song and Dance is the tall-tale of a poor
fisherman named Simon Henry who lives
on the river by Higgins Bend and swears he can catch anything that
"swims, crawls, or floats." His friend Potato Kelly, who owns the
bait and chowder shop near Higgins Bend bets Simon Henry that he
cannot catch the wily catfish, Oscar. When Oscar steals Simon Henry's
doughballs, his fat redworms and his best five day old secret recipe
stinkbait the contest is on and Simon Henry vows "to get up early,
work late, and sleep in my boots" until that fish is caught.
If you like fishing, like rivers, or just like to laugh, you will like
this story.