Who decided fish make good prizes? I get stuffed animals and goofy hats, but a living creature that gets put into a plastic bag and carted around in the heat for the rest of the day? What brain trust came up with that idea? I took Keilana to a carnival once when she was two years old, despite her aversion to crowds, sun, and competitive endeavors, because it was a fundraiser for a good cause and I felt we should make an appearance and leave a few good-intentioned dollars behind. To my surprise, she was fascinated by the event. I thought. It turns out she was only mesmerized by one part of the carnival--the throw-balls-into-fishbowls booth. I could not tear her away and she watched with such concentration, memorizing every possible strategy, until she felt she had it down and begged to try. The last thing I wanted as a single mom on a very limited budget was to bring another crea
ture needing food and caretaking into my life, but what chance did a toddler have of winning when not one big kid who’d tried so far was successful? I thought I could let her have what she wanted without paying the price. Wrong. She stepped to the line and sank all three balls in a row. We ended up with a free goldfish that cost me $27 in stuff…and died by the next morning. I thought of that darn fish while we read Lois Ehlert’s Fish Eyes. Fish, meh.http://www.amazon.com/Fish-Eyes-Book-You-Count/dp/0152280510
http://www.rif.org/art/illustrators/ehlert.mspx
