The population of winter flounder is disappearing in Long Island Sound. As angry fishermen feud with the local power plant to fix blame, the Great Nutmeg State commissions a legendary whaling ship to harpoon the flounders’ nemesis: The Great Spotted Whale. It’s up to young Pirate Calvin with the Wise Seaport Rat and a crew of little mateys to save the whale, setting course aboard the strangest pirate ship that ever sailed the seas.

The story reunites two characters from a previous adventure, Pirate Calvin meets the Wise Seaport Rat and is loosely based on historical events in Southeastern Connecticut. Some are factual, like the longstanding feud between the nuclear power plant and the local fishermen over who is responsible for the area’s declining population of winter flounder. Also playing into the storyline and significant to the region is Connecticut’s unprecedented tax recently imposed on the business profits of the state’s sole nuclear power plant.

The author, Fred Neff, read a troubling environmental study that reported more flounder larvae by the power plant’s cooling water pumps than ever in Niantic Bay! A footnote added that perhaps something else was driving more flounder in from Long Island Sound. And that is the sliver of truth propelling the author’s theory of a third entity at play. Enter the Great Spotted Whale.

At the time this story was written, the legendary 1800s whaling ship, Charles W. Morgan, was being refitted at the Mystic Seaport, to become seaworthy again with her maiden voyage the following year.

The author pokes good-hearted fun at the 3-Headed Beast, local fishermen, and the whaling ship’s greenhorn commander, Captain Brag. In weaving imagination with local history, adding equal parts of political satire and a dash of commentary, he has spun a good yarn worthy of seafaring readers and political pundits alike.

Age range: 3-10, Grades K-3

Available on Amazon and barnesandnoble.com

About the Author

Fred Neff has published numerous magazine articles, as well as children’s books and a non-fiction self-help book titled Clues to Success: Making Rhyme out of Reason. He received his bachelor’s degree in Journalism from San Diego State University and was also on the start-up staff as an intern for a new publication, gaining his first byline in the premier issue of San Diego Home/Garden Magazine. Prior to SDSU during the waning years of the Vietnam conflict he served aboard a Destroyer, a Submarine Tender, and then the fast-attack submarine, USS Gurnard (SSN-662), for the remainder of his six years of active duty in the U.S. Navy.

While much of his desire to write over the years was fashioned after internalizing the positive messages from self-help books and seminars, he also began writing and publishing children’s books after his son, Calvin, was born in 2005. According to Fred, when people started buying his Calvin and Dad books and then continued to purchase them, he no longer harbored the doubts that keep many writers from sharing their works with the public. Then on a dare from one of his co-workers to give back to the community, he designed and taught a night course, How to Write a Children’s Book, where he helped many students realize their dreams of becoming a published author. Some of them to date have been published numerous times.

About the Illustrator

As a book illustrator, Bill Dougal enjoys making whimsical yet descriptive pictures to accompany text. His favorite style combines cartooning and realism. The somewhat loose look to the art has spirit, and affirms the hand of an individual, in an age when much art has a computerized appearance.

Bill’s collaboration with Fred Neff is among his favorite endeavors. Bill admires Fred’s imagination and his style, which is both personal and personable. When Bill starts to illustrate one of Fred‘s stories, some of the author’s input is very specific, but most is left for Bill to interpret visually.

Hartford Art School gave Bill a BFA in 1973, and they haven’t asked for it back, so he figures he’s doing pretty well. After having worked at ad agencies, Bill now earns a living through caricature drawing and illustration. The illustration assignments fall into the categories of books, advertisements, and publications. (Illustration gallery at: www.dougalart.com).

His caricature work falls into the categories of mail-order for gifts, events and retail at fairs, etc. (www.caricaturedrawing.net). Bill Also likes writing, performing and recording songs for kids. (www.dougalmusic.net). Bill’s wife, Dori, teaches art. They reside in Lebanon, CT.