Trumpet of the Swan

The Trumpet of the Swan turned out to be another big hit for my family and I to share together. You know you have a big hit with my kids when they will do whatever you ask of them just so you will sit there and read the next chapter!!

TOTS is told from a number of different perspectives. It starts off from the perspective of Sam Beaver, a young boy from Montana on vacation with his father in the Canadian Wilderness. Sam is an introspective young man. He likes to explore and think by himself, he worries about his future, and he keeps a journal where he asks himself questions to ponder every night before he goes to sleep. My 8-year-old Noah was quite taken with that idea and I am getting a journal book of his own to write down his thoughts and make little pictures to keep. Sam is also brave and patient. His patience pays off when one day the Mother Swan and her Cob allow their new cygnets to meet him. And that is how Sam meets Lois, the little swan without a voice. In a very tender moment little Lois, who has no voice, pulls Sam’s shoe lace as a way to say hello. The imagination of my young sons were so inspired with what it would take to have a wild bird like Lois come that close to them. We can’t even get the stray cats in our neighborhood to stand still long enough for a pat on the head!!

The Cob and his wife have come to Canada for the purpose of raising a family. The first couple of chapters are dedicated to the challenges of building a nest and hatching the young cygnets. This is my favorite part of the book! The cob, is a master orator! He never says in anything in 5 words when 50 will do much better! He is arrogant, verbose, flamboyant and charming. He cracked us all up more than once!

But the central character in the book is Lois the swan, a trumpeter swan without a voice! As it turns out this is a major birth defect for this young swan if he ever hopes to communicate with his fellow swans, but particularly if he ever hopes to woo and court a female trumpeter swan. Lois sets out on his own to learn how to communicate and with the help of Sam Beaver, he learns to read and write! With his trusty chalkboard and pencil he certainly can communicate with people. But swans cannot read. My children were mortified at the illustration of Lois swimming around with the sign saying “I love you” trying to woo the swan of his dreams, Serena. Love even makes swans surrender some of their dignity I guess.

Thanks to bold and brave actions by the cob, Lois does get a voice through a regular musical trumpet! This series of events sets on on a path that leads him to Ontario, Boston, Philadelphia and then eventually through the American South and
then back up to Montana.

For geography, tracking Lois’s adventures on the map and learning about each of these places can make for interesting lessons. I found these sites to be very helpful:
http://www.webenglishteacher.com/white.html

http://www.kidcrosswords.com/vocabulary_lists/the_trumpet_of_the_swan.htm

Trumpeter swans

Red rock Lakes refuge

The Trumpet of the Swan is a family story, a love story, and adventure story, and a comedy. I highly recommend it for the entire family!

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