Lezersrecensie
A Lovely Story About a Dumb Swan
The enchanting 1970 novel ‘The Trumpet of the Swan’ by American author E.B. White (1899 - 1985), best known for the classics ‘Charlotte’s web’ and ‘Stuart Little’, became a finalist of the National Book Awards in 1971 and in 2001 the book was adapted to film. This review is based on the illustrated version from 2000 published by HarperCollins Publishers.
The cover pictures Louis, the protagonist of the story, floating serenely in water with a trumpet tucked under his wing. Inside, beautiful drawings depict scenes from the story, along with bar lines, notes, and lyrics from songs, enrich the reading experience.
“You misunderstood me, my son [...] You failed to understand my use of the word ‘dumb’, which has two meanings. [...] poor opinion of your intelligence [...] A person who can’t speak is called dumb. That simply means he can’t say anything. [...].” - Father to Louis.
A boy named Sam Beaver stays with his father at a camp in Canada, during a walk he found a pond with trumpeter swans nesting. The mother swan lays five eggs, on a day Sam does something that is the start of a special friendship with the swans, and a month later he is witness to the hatching of the eggs. One of the newborn cygnets has a defect, he has no voice. After migrating to Red Rock Lake, Louis - the defect cygnet - leaves to find Sam and asks to help him to find a way to communicate with the other swans. What he learns doesn’t help him with the swans, but helps with humans. Later Louis falls in love with a swan named Serena and his father gets Louis a trumpet, in an unhonorable way, that will help Louis to gain Serena’s love. Louis learns how his father got the trumpet and wants to resolve the problem and restore the honor, which leads him from one adventure to the next.
“At this point, Louis had an idea. He lifted his trumpet and began to play an old song called ’There’s a Small Hotel’.” - Song is from Richard Rodgers (1936)
E.B. White crafts the lives of birds, particularly swans, brilliantly with the migrations, changing seasons, inherent dangers, and their feeding and breeding habits. The humans aren’t that well developed by White in personalities, they feel a bit flat and lacking in emotion. The barns, cities and rooms visited aren’t told in detail by White, but there are enough details to paint a vivid picture. The music White added is a delightful touch and also invites looking up and listening to, while taking a small break from reading or to let it play in the background. The ending White delivers is a mixture of heartbreaking and warmth.
“See to it that she is pinioned this morning [...] before she flies off and leaves us. [...] Make sure she doesn’t get away!” - Head Man in Charge of Birds about Serena.
Although the story is set in the 1960’s, it may feel outdated to contemporary children, it remains a lovely story. The beautiful drawings really enrich the story, and the book offers valuable life and moral lessons. It was a wonderful read about finding your voice, and the power of family and friendship.
The cover pictures Louis, the protagonist of the story, floating serenely in water with a trumpet tucked under his wing. Inside, beautiful drawings depict scenes from the story, along with bar lines, notes, and lyrics from songs, enrich the reading experience.
“You misunderstood me, my son [...] You failed to understand my use of the word ‘dumb’, which has two meanings. [...] poor opinion of your intelligence [...] A person who can’t speak is called dumb. That simply means he can’t say anything. [...].” - Father to Louis.
A boy named Sam Beaver stays with his father at a camp in Canada, during a walk he found a pond with trumpeter swans nesting. The mother swan lays five eggs, on a day Sam does something that is the start of a special friendship with the swans, and a month later he is witness to the hatching of the eggs. One of the newborn cygnets has a defect, he has no voice. After migrating to Red Rock Lake, Louis - the defect cygnet - leaves to find Sam and asks to help him to find a way to communicate with the other swans. What he learns doesn’t help him with the swans, but helps with humans. Later Louis falls in love with a swan named Serena and his father gets Louis a trumpet, in an unhonorable way, that will help Louis to gain Serena’s love. Louis learns how his father got the trumpet and wants to resolve the problem and restore the honor, which leads him from one adventure to the next.
“At this point, Louis had an idea. He lifted his trumpet and began to play an old song called ’There’s a Small Hotel’.” - Song is from Richard Rodgers (1936)
E.B. White crafts the lives of birds, particularly swans, brilliantly with the migrations, changing seasons, inherent dangers, and their feeding and breeding habits. The humans aren’t that well developed by White in personalities, they feel a bit flat and lacking in emotion. The barns, cities and rooms visited aren’t told in detail by White, but there are enough details to paint a vivid picture. The music White added is a delightful touch and also invites looking up and listening to, while taking a small break from reading or to let it play in the background. The ending White delivers is a mixture of heartbreaking and warmth.
“See to it that she is pinioned this morning [...] before she flies off and leaves us. [...] Make sure she doesn’t get away!” - Head Man in Charge of Birds about Serena.
Although the story is set in the 1960’s, it may feel outdated to contemporary children, it remains a lovely story. The beautiful drawings really enrich the story, and the book offers valuable life and moral lessons. It was a wonderful read about finding your voice, and the power of family and friendship.
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