Amancay - The Slippery Fish by Editorial ACES

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El pez resbaladizo The slippery fish Vanesa Pizzuto Dirección: Stella M. Romero Diseño e ilustración: Karina Varela Libro de edición argentina IMPRESO EN LA ARGENTINA - Printed in Argentina Primera edición MMXVI – 14M Es propiedad. © 2016 Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana. Queda hecho el depósito que marca la ley 11.723.

EL PEZ RESBALADIZO

ISBN 978-987-701-573-7

“The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.” (Psalm 24:1)

Pizzuto, Vanesa El pez resbaladizo : Slippery fish / Vanesa Pizzuto / Dirigido por Stella M. Romero / Ilustrado por Karina Varela. – 1ª ed. – Florida : Asociación Casa Editora Sudamericana, 2016. 24 p. ; il. ; 21 x 14 cm. - (Serie Amancay bilingüe / Romero, Stella M.) + Libro digital en inglés

Text: Vanesa Pizzuto Illustration: Karina Varela

ISBN 978-987-701-573-7 1. Relatos. I. Romero, Stella M., dir. II. Varela, Karina, ilus. III. Título. CDD 863.9282

Se terminó de imprimir el 08 de noviembre de 2016 en talleres propios (Gral. José de San Martín 4555, B1604CDG Florida Oeste, Buenos Aires). Prohibida la reproducción total o parcial de esta publicación (texto, imágenes y diseño), su manipulación informática y transmisión ya sea electrónica, mecánica, por fotocopia u otros medios, sin permiso previo del editor. -109320- C -109227- S -109228- PL -109229- STK

bilingüe

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t was a radiant spring day. Nahuel and Amancay were very happy because they were going for a tour around a lake. They went back and forth, running around the house, bringing things for their mom to put inside a big, striped, green and white bag. Soon she had sunscreen, water bottles, a thermos, towels, a football, and the cookies for afternoon tea inside the bag. Dad brought the folding chairs from the shed, and when everything was ready, they got in the car. While travelling on San Carlos de Bariloche’s winding roads, the family played guessing games and made up rhymes.

“My little friend, I bet you can’t guess,” said Nahuel, using the phrase with which they always started the game. “What is it that I have in my kitchen?” “A hen?” Amancay asked. “A ballerina?” dad added. “A tangerine?” said mom. “It is not a hen, a ballerina or a tangerine. What I have in my kitchen, no-one will guess!” Nahuel said, happy to have chosen something that was not easy to guess. “Would you give us some clues?” Amancay asked. “Let’s pay attention, and Nahuel will give us information,” said dad, laughing.

“It is red, jiggly, and really tasty,” said Nahuel. “I know, it is jelly!” Amancay shouted happily. “Yes, cherry, like the one we ate yesterday,” Nahuel added. Playing rhymes and guessing games, the journey went by really fast, and soon they arrived at the beautiful Perito Moreno Lake. As soon as they got out of the car, Nahuel spotted something that drew his attention. “Wow! Can we go to check it out, mom?” But his mom was distracted getting things out of the car, and saw nothing.

“Let’s get everything out first, and then we can go explore,” she suggested. Together, they formed a human chain to pass things from the car to the beach. Dad placed the folding chairs and the mat on the beach, and sat to sunbathe. Then, mom, Nahuel and Amancay went to explore. “Where would you like to go?” mom asked. Nahuel pointed with his finger, and she smiled when she saw what had gotten his attention. 4

They moved slowly, without making noise. Among the reeds, where the lake and the Angostura steam meet, there was a man, wearing special clothes. He had very high boots, a brown vest full of tiny pockets, and a big green hat. He was in the lake, with the water almost up to his knees. In his hand he had a fishing rod that he cast constantly. His dog waited for him, sitting on the beach, next to a white bucket, as if it were guarding the treasure. Amancay and her mom came closer to pat the dog, which was very friendly. But Nahuel had seen something earlier and immediately

knelt next to the bucket, and popped his head inside. “A trout!” he said so loudly that his voiced echoed inside the bucket. After hearing him, Amancay popped her head inside the bucket to see it. The dog was curious to see what the children were doing, and popped its snout in too. They all laughed when it started licking them. The noise caught the fisherman’s attention, and he came over for a chat. “Have you seen what I caught?” he asked in a friendly manner. The children nodded.

“It has little spots!” Amancay commented. “It is very pretty,” mom said. “It is a rainbow trout,” the fisherman explained. “They can weight more than 5 kilos, and live more than 6 years.” “Did you hear that, Amy?” mom asked. “You are 5 years old, but trout can live more than 6 years.” “Yes, but Amy weights more than 5 kilos,” said Nahuel, making everyone laugh. “I will continue fishing. You can come with to the shore to look,” the fisherman invited them.

The three went to the shore to watch the fisherman. But, after a while, they got bored. So they decided to return to where dad was, in order to throw little stones in the lake. Dad knew how to play stone skipping, and the children were eager to learn. Dad showed them how to look for flat stones, how to hold them, and how to throw them at an angle. He also told them that a man, once, had skipped a stone 51 times, and held the world record. The children and dad spent quite a while practising, but the maximum they managed to get was 5 skips. They were so entertained that they did not notice when the fisherman started pulling his rod. Suddenly, mom heard a splash and looked in the fisherman’s direction. “Children, I think he’s caught something!” mom announced. 8

Immediately, Nahuel and Amancay ran towards the fisherman. “Is it another rainbow trout? Nahuel asked. “No. It is a zebra trout; they are a protected species. I am going to return it to the lake,” the fisherman explained. “Can we help?” the children asked. The fisherman thought for a moment, and then said kindly: “Fish should not be handled, especially with dry hands.” “Why?” the children wanted to know. “Fish are slippery because they are coated in a type of slime that protects them,” the fisherman answered. “Like the sunscreen mom puts on us?” Amancay asked.

“Yes, of course!” said the fisherman. “And if we touch them a lot, we remove that protection.” “Awww!” the children said sadly. “But there is something you can do. Put your hands like this in the water,” said the fisherman, cupping one hand to show them. Nahuel and Amancay formed a small pool with their four hands in the water, and waited. Meanwhile, using special pliers, the fisherman removed the hook. “Ready?” he asked them. “Ready!” they both shouted.

“I know, I know!” exclaimed Nahuel, who was older than Amancay and already attended primary school. “They are animals of which there are not many left, because people have hunted or fished them too much.” “That’s right. But among plants and flowers you can find protected species too,” dad added. “There are also whole forests, with all their animals, which are protected areas. Do you know of any?” mom asked. Nahuel whispered the answer in Amancay’s ear. “Yes! The Nahuel Huapi National Park,” she said and they all laughed at her cheekiness.

The fisherman held the fish in the water for a few seconds, so it would get used to it, inside the pool the children had formed with their hands. When the fish started to move and wiggle its tail, he released it. Trailing through the water, and tickling the kids’ fingers, the fish left. Its scales were shining in the sunlight. “Wow! I felt it pass,” Nahuel said. “Me too!” Amancay exclaimed. The children thanked the fisherman for allowing them to help. Then, they returned to tell mom and dad what they had done. “Amy, do you know what ‘protected species’ are?” mom asked after hearing the story. Amancay shook her head no. 12

“Protecting the animals and the plants is a way to show respect to God, who created them,” said dad. “And a way to ensure that this beautiful lake, these tall mountains and the slippery fish will still be here when you are old,” said mom and the children agreed. At dusk, when the sun started to hide behind the mountains, dad wrapped the children in warm clothes and gave them the hot chocolate they had brought in the thermos. “Would you like to stay a little bit longer to watch the fish jumping in the lake?” mom asked while they ate cookies. “Yes!” the children replied in unison.

“They like to jump at dusk. Let’s count how many we can spot,” dad suggested. The children looked at the lake intently, and remained quiet to better hear the splashing. ‘Plop’, ‘plop’, ‘plop’, one by one they counted the fish they saw jumping. Soon there were more than 15! “Maybe one of the fish we saw jumping is the zebra trout,” said dad. “I hope we’ll be able to help many more animals,” Nahuel replied.

The following day, as Nahuel was finishing his homework, the doorbell suddenly rang. “It is Aunty Nana!” Amancay said, peeking through the window. When mom opened the door, the children ran to hug her. Aunty Nana was a teacher at a local primary school. Whenever she visited them, the children asked her to teach them new songs and crafts. Aunty would always agree, and had much fun with them. “Tell aunty what you did yesterday,” mom suggested. “We returned a zebra trout to the lake,” said Nahuel. “Wooow, that’s great!” Aunty Nana commented.

“We held our hands like this, look aunty,” said Amancay, cupping her hands. When they finished telling her the adventure, Aunty Nana suggested they do an art project together. “Shall we make some origami fish, and create fishing rods too?” “Oregano fish?” Amancay asked, surprised. “No, o-ri-ga-mi!” said Aunty Nana laughing. “Origami is a Japanese technique of folding paper into different figures. Scissors or glue are not used, like when you make a little paper plane, or a boat. Shall we try it?” “Yes, aunty!” the children replied in unison.

Aunty Nana’s bag was like a magician’s hat, it was always filled with interesting things: drawings, coloured pencils, toys, glitter and much more. This time, from her bag, Aunty Nana took several coloured sheets of paper, and let the children choose which one they wanted to use. Nahuel chose a blue square, and Amancay a brown one, with yellow dots. Then, sitting at the table, they started the project. Fold by fold, they worked patiently. At first, the squares of paper did not look like fish. But after some minutes, a fin was formed. And some minutes later, another one appeared. At last, the tail materialised. When the children drew the eyes,

the mouth and the scales, the origami fish looked almost real! “Can we colour them?” Amancay asked. “Of course!” Aunty Nana replied, taking a box of felt-tipped markers from her bag. When they finished colouring the fish, aunty asked Nahuel to bring little sticks from the garden, so they could use them as fishing rods. With aunty’s help, the children tied a thread to each fishing rod with a magnet glued at the end. They also glued a magnet to each origami fish.

Nahuel asked mom for a blue sheet, to replicate the lake, and spread it on the living room floor. Then, sitting by the shore of their small fabric lake, the children played fishing. They needed to aim a bit, so the magnet on the rod would attach to the magnet on the fish, but the children were super entertained trying. “Amy, this is a zebra trout,” said Nahuel when his rod finally caught one fish. “Let’s release it!” she replied. Together, they gently removed it from the rod, and released it in the fabric lake.

“Hurrah!” Aunty Nana shouted, clapping to celebrate. Hearing all the noise, mom came in and asked them to let her play too. The children agreed. So, she brought dad’s rain boots and hat. Taking turns, they all dressed up as fishermen, and played fishing. They spent a lovely afternoon playing like this, and remembering that protecting nature is a way to show respect to God, who created it. And that we all, children and grownups, can do our little part so the tall mountains, the crystalline lakes and the slippery fish can be with us for many, many more years to come.

Find and circle the zebra trout inside the bucket, and then release them back into the lake. Encuentra y marca las peladillas que estĂĄn en el recipiente para devolverlas al lago.

Tick the items a fisherman uses. Marca quĂŠ elementos necesita un pescador.

Nahuel and Amancay live surrounded by a beautiful natural landscape, with lush trees, crystal waters and clear air. Enjoy their adventures and learn how to take better care of our planet. With this book, you will be able to do the given activities in Spanish/English.

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You can also read the complete Amancay series in English, in its digital format. Download the books at: aceseducacion.com

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