In an photograph taken near Red Rock Lakes, a boy holds a rifle slung over his arm. Soft bodies of waterfowl are lined up at his feet and along the base of the rough log cabin behind him; they dangle from nails on the cabin wall, lie settled on a windowsill as if asleep. A trumpeter swan hangs by its head, the weight of its body pulling the neck full length, wings slightly spread.
Settlers at the Red Rock Lakes earned fifty dollars per swan caught, crated, and shipped off to zoos and private collections. By the early decades of the twentieth century, the disappearance of trumpeters seemed a foregone conclusion, despite the fact that the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of made it illegal to hunt them.
That year, the government designated forty thousand acres of southern Montana marsh as a national wildlife refuge. By the late s, almost four thousand trumpeter swans lived in North America. These days, transplanted and captive-raised trumpeters anchor a Midwest population of 4, at last count. Farther north, 25, breed in Alaska, and 4, more live in Canada, some of which fly south to the Red Rock Lakes for the winter.
But the scope reveals white pelicans, dipping grand beaks into the water. Many birds trail lines of hatchlings.
A young man from Butte drives up in a truck with a horse trailer, leans his head out the window to chat about his ride into the mountains, telling how he always comes down in June to look at the elk and moose that have dropped their young in the stands of aspen clustered near the creeks.
The lakes rest like shards of thin slate, scattered in the broad plain between the Centennial Mountains and the Gravelly Range. The shallow waters are infested with leeches, riddled with sedges, lined with rotting plants slow to decay in the cold. Mosquitoes and horseflies dart over the surface, seeking a blood meal. The town of Paradise is to the north and west, at the junction of the Flathead and Clark Fork rivers, and Eden sits among the coulees and buttes in the center of the state, but for a trumpeter swan, the Red Rock Lakes are heaven.
Instead of migrating, they linger all winter at the refuge, where warm springs keep ponds ice free. In the early days of the refuge, people scattered grain in the cold months, making a trip south even less attractive. They are the only group inhabiting their original breeding grounds in the lower They are not captive-bred. They have not been relocated or reintroduced. They are tied to these lakes, perhaps even on a genetic level, in a way that a bird brought from Canada to the Midwest and set free is not.
For decades, biologists have been trying to get these malingerers to migrate to warmer climates in Utah, Oregon, southern Idaho — to re-create either a genetic impulse lost when the population narrowed to less than a hundred, or migratory knowledge lost when parents were shot as they flew into hostile territory. Managers have tried scaring birds off the lakes, or boxing them up and shipping them away as the snow starts to fall.
All this effort is complicated by the fact that Utah has long had a hunting season for tundra swans, which look like trumpeters but are smaller. If you dissect a dead tundra swan, its esophagus has one less kink, so it whistles rather than trumpets.
More recently, the state opened a limited season on trumpeter swans as well. So sometimes, when a swan heads south, it is shot, all that work of prodding it into flight wasted. My father is seventy-four now, older than White when he wrote The Trumpet of the Swan.
His shock of white hair is thick and churned by cowlicks. The single, small, gold-hoop earring he acquired days after retiring as an electrical engineer gives him the look of a weathered pirate.
Listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the plovers are claiming a strip of sand bordered by a highway. Not far from Upper Red Rock Lake, a pond is staked off by signs warning viewers not to come closer as swans will abandon their nests — a mess of roots and sedges likely built on top of a muskrat lodge — at the slightest human provocation. White dots bob on the surface. A moment to set up the tripod and adjust the focus, and there they are: two adults and, right up against their chests, five cygnets.
There is a whiff of the nineteenth century in the perfect S curve of their necks, the way they slip over the water. How else could you glide? When it rights itself, the swan looks like a picture painted on the side of a teacup. Here, from the shore, observation and imagination feed one another. White, the writer, gathered details from Banko, the refuge manager, who cited Audubon, the artist, whose paintings bred a nationwide passion for native birds. On the pond, the heads of both birds flatten; necks turn into snakes about to strike.
The male and female peer in every direction: the shrubby shoreline, the ducks paddling nearby, straight down the throat of the spotting scope. A coot pops up from underneath the water, an insolent splash in the middle of the knot of cygnets, scattering them like dandelion seeds. One swan spreads its wings, curves of muscle visible in the sleek chest, kicking up the water, half herding, half slapping, and chases the little bird away. The trumpeter fluffs its feathers, settles them back in place.
The cygnets huddle around. They go back to gliding, swanlike. This article is rendered as gracefully as the swans depicted in it. I love the intricate weave of literary, memory, scientific, environmental, personal. I also thank you for raising up the name of E. White in these pages.
I worked with people at the British Museum and the Royal Ontario Museum and discovered the paints used contained lead and that many paintings, frescoes, etc have areas of black because the lead degrades after what is now four centuries, in this case.
This discovery lead to the development of two papers on the subject and a tsunami of sorts, in the field, but also many known experts have found the theory a sound one. Search books and authors. The Trumpet of the Swan E. White E. White Buy from…. View all retailers. A Puffin Book - stories that last a lifetime An uplifting story, which blends wildlife and nature with fantasy to make a tender, humorous and unforgettable animal tale.
About the authors E. Related titles. Charlotte's Web. Fantastic Mr Fox. The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Hairy Maclary from Donaldson's Dairy. Where's Spot? Peppa Pig: Peppa's Christmas Unicorn. Book With No Pictures. Novak , B. George's Marvellous Medicine. Roald Dahl , Quentin Blake. I read this book to my kids at bedtime over a few months and I found kind of disappointing although my kids seemed to really like it.
It's imaginative and has a few good characters my personal favorite was Louis' dad , but I have several complaints: 1 The "romance" with Serena REALLY irritated me - not only was there nothing redeeming about her other than her looks, it was ridiculous that she "blew off course" while in Montana and just happened to end up at the Philadelphia zoo. View 2 comments. If I read this book as a child, I probably didn't make it very far. My reasoning would likely have been "It's no Charlotte's Web ", one of my all-time favorite children's stories.
Is Charlotte going to appear? Poor Louis is, as everyone likes to remind him, defective because he can't make swan-noises. But he doesn't let that If I read this book as a child, I probably didn't make it very far. But he doesn't let that get him down! He has dreams, big dreams, and he is going to win the eye of that lady-swan, even though he cannot communicate with her because love transcends all.
It's a cute story, with some adventure and financial debt and a lot of misogyny that is hard to overlook because, good lord, this is a children's story and what are we teaching our young readers anyway? Dream big, kids, don't worry if you're broken; you'll one day own a woman!
Also it's not Charlotte's Web and I cannot forgive it for that which is really unfair to the memory of E. White and all, but c'mon. But this book is not nearly as heartbreaking as Charlotte's Web either. Children reading this book will learn all about swans, that women are possessions, the word 'crepuscular', that all musicians are poor, and that math is stupid. Quick read for an adult reader, took me less than two hours. Thanks to the person who I think I'm actually friends with here on GR who left this in one of those free library mailbox things in Regent Square.
I'll take it back to another mailbox so hopefully an actual child who hasn't read it can get some joy out of it. View all 10 comments. The incomparable classic children's author, E. White, wrote not only a delightful fantasy in Charlotte's Web but also in this book, The Trumpet of the Swan. This book would be a wonderful read-aloud for young elementary students as well as a great chapter book for older elementary readers. Louis, a swan, is born without a voice.
Yet through ingenuity and a touch of fantasy he finds ways to live a full life as well as woo the beautiful swan he falls in love with as he gets older. This book woul The incomparable classic children's author, E. This book would be a wonderful introduction to a discussion of celebrating differences and learning ways to cope with disabilities whether they be small or large. A wonderful classic children's book that I somehow missed as a child and an elementary teacher.
Oct 18, Shiloah rated it it was amazing Shelves: family-special-needs-kids , childrens-classics-storybooks , homeschool-tjed-core-phase , world-north-american , honey-for-a-child-s-heart , genre-animals , homeschool-tjed-love-of-learning , personal-theme-favorites , family-read-aloud. What a wonderful book! Thankfully, it was a read aloud with my kids. Apr 24, Kelli rated it really liked it Shelves: childrens.
I typically don't review children's books here unless they are very long or very good. This book is both. I'm not sure how I escaped reading this as a child but I'm certain that I didn't because the story is unique and memorable. Louis, a trumpeter swan born without a voice, employs determination and smarts to remedy this obstacle and win the heart of his love, all the while embarking on adventures and working to right wrongs along the way.
My 8 year old daughter said "this book teaches children I typically don't review children's books here unless they are very long or very good. My 8 year old daughter said "this book teaches children to be a rightful citizen and an honest and kind friend. A story with morals, comedy and a nature lesson.
Dec 20, Jan rated it it was amazing Shelves: ya-middle-grade , audio-completed , zz-finished-in I loved this book growing up and was a little afraid to re-read it for fear that the memory would not live up to the reality. But I needn't have worried Who could not fall in love with Louis the swan as he searches for a way to communicate since he was born without a voice.
I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author. I loved every minute of it - it felt like grandpa telling me a story. A 5 star experience!!! View 1 comment. Sep 24, Cherie rated it it was amazing Shelves: read-audio. What a treat to listen to this endearing and timeless story narrated by the author. It was quite a surprise, after downloading the book simply because the book cover shows a swan holding a trumpet under his wing. I loved Louie and his adventure. Nov 18, Calista rated it really liked it Shelves: genre-fantasy , , award-national-book , bage-middle-grade , award-various , genre-drama-tragedy , classic , z-e-b-white.
A story about overcoming adversity. How do you find a mate without a voice, if you are a swan? Your father knows to make speeches and eventually steals a trumpet for you.
This is a zany story of a swan who can talk and play the trumpet. I enjoyed the story and this was 75 pages too long. The book should have ended long before it did. The last scene with the father was so unnecessary and that part dragged. There is something powerful about overcoming a handicap. Louis didn't get mad or lash out at A story about overcoming adversity. Louis didn't get mad or lash out at those around him. He put his energy into learning to overcome obstacles in his way to his goal.
It's also simply a fun story. I have now read 3 of E. B's works and I would say that this is his second best work. Charlotte being his first. Sep 22, C. Recommended to C. So the swan named Louis, he went around with a slate because he didn't have any voice. And he tried so hard and but he couldn't talk. He got a trumpet and a slate, a gold medal for saving someone's life, and guess what?
He got a money bag because his father stole the trumpet. That's it. It's a five star book because I liked it a lot. My favorite part is when he broke in the door and then the owner of the store came after him and he got the trumpet and he went away. I know that is stealing but th So the swan named Louis, he went around with a slate because he didn't have any voice. I know that is stealing but they are swans. How do swans get money?
Louis knows how. If you want to find out, read it! Oct 03, Jennifer Fertig rated it it was amazing. Best first chapter of a book ever written. May 04, Laura rated it really liked it Shelves: family-read-alouds. My kids were all absorbed in this one! I was skeptical of a plot revolving around a swan who is a jazz artist, but I trust EB White to pull off whatever he attempts. And I was right to do so. We all loved how Louis the swan collected skills and experiences and equipment, until fate brought him just the opportunity he had been preparing for the whole time.
Fun for the whole family! Nov 19, Izzy Smith rated it really liked it. I thought it was very good. And I also thought that Louie was very funny! I liked how the story was about swans, because swans are very unusual animals to write about. Mar 10, Joey rated it really liked it Shelves: classics , fam-owns-it. Reason for Reading: I've picked a bookshelf to randomly read my own books from this year and this is my first read from that shelf.
This is a perennial favourite of mine. I've read this several times now. Originally as a child, then as an adult, again as a read aloud to my eldest son, and now once more and the book still has not lost its charm for me.
This is going to make a nice bedtime read for dh and ds and I'll be putting it in their pile. Trumpet is my favourite of White's three children's novels. Louis is an unassuming hero, with a sense of right and wrong, dignity and someone who works hard to get what he wants out of life.
Born without a voice, he gets by until he is old enough for mating season. Then, of course, he can't attract the female he is in love with so his father heads to the city and steals a trumpet for him. Louis is so thankful, he learns to play, but first he must earn money to pay back his father's debt both for the trumpet and the damage he did to the store and thus follows the story of Louis' adventures as he earns a living at various venues first playing as a bugler and then after a slight operation to one foot learning the full use of the trumpet.
He becomes famous in the towns and cities he plays in but his heart is always set on earning the money, so he can get back to his family and his lady love. He also repeatedly is assisted and visited by Sam Beaver, a boy he met when he was just a newly hatched gosling.
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