River Read online

  River

  Debby Atwell

  * * *

  written and illustrated by DEBBY ATWELL

  HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON

  Walter Lorraine Books

  * * *

  Copyright © 1999 by Debby Atwell

  All rights reserved. For information about permission

  to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions,

  Houghton Mifflin Company, 215 Park Avenue South,

  New York, New York 10003.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Atwell, Debby.

  River / by Debby Atwell

  p. cm.

  Summary: A river gradually becomes depleted as more and more

  people use its resources to build cities, transport goods, and handle sewage.

  RNF ISBN 0-395-93546-6 PA ISBN 0-618-43952-8

  [1. Water pollution—Fiction. 2. Pollution—Fiction. 3. Rivers—

  Fiction.] I. Title.

  PZ7.A8935Ri 1999

  [E]—dc21 99-10327

  CIP

  Printed in Singapore

  TWP 10 9 8 7 6

  * * *

  For LISA ANDRESEN

  In the beginning there was the river. Trees grew. Fish grew big. And one by one, the animals came to drink the water.

  One morning a person appeared. He paddled down the river in a canoe. He knew the river was good. He returned with his family.

  After a while more people came. They made friends with the first people. They speared fish together. They traded goods. They shared the river.

  Then many new people arrived. They wanted to live on the river too. They fought with the first people. The first people had to leave to find peace.

  The new people cleared the land. They used the timber to build houses. They cut down the trees so fast that sometimes there were too many for the river to hold.

  More and more people came. Many houses were built. Towns began to grow. The people used the river for fishing, cooking, washing, and traveling.

  New inventions changed life for the people. Steamboats took the place of sailing ships. Automobiles took the place of horses. Trains ran beside the waters.

  The towns grew bigger, faster and faster. More and more warehouses and factories were built. Businesses boomed.

  The animals no longer came to drink. The fish disappeared. There were too many needs.

  But the people remembered how it had been. They changed the warehouses. They tore down some of the factories. They planted trees. They wanted to share.

  Time passed. The river rested. The trees grew.

  One day a person appeared. She paddled up the river in a canoe. She saw that the river was good. She returned with her family.

  Again, fish grew big. People used the waters. There was enough for all.

  Life had returned to the river. The people had learned to share.

 

 

  Debby Atwell, River

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