SWAMP ANGEL - Anne Isaacs

1. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Isaacs, Anne. 1994. Swamp Angel. Ill. by Paul O. Zelinsky. New York: Dutton Children’s Books. ISBN 9780525452713

2. PLOT SUMMARY
Swamp Angel is a tall tale, and I do mean tall. The heroine of the story is Angelica Longrider. As a newborn, she was “scarcely taller than her mother.” Needless to say, she certainly became someone to look up to! When Tennessee was ravaged by a voracious (and enormous) bear, many men tried to take him down. Thundering Tarnation, as the bear was known, would not be bested by any of them. Angelica decided to take her turn, even though people told her that she should be at home sewing and cooking. Angelica’s battle with the bear reached epic proportions, including tornado wrangling and the origin of the Great Smoky Mountains. In this match of equals, who would win?

3. CRITICAL ANALYSIS
Swamp Angel is an original story based upon the tall tale traditions of the American frontier. While it is not a retelling of an existing folk tale, Isaacs has certainly captured the flavor of one. She has created a romping tale which moves from one episode to the next on every page. Set in Tennessee in the early part of the 1800s, Angelica personifies the tenacity of pioneers, who struggled to stake and protect their claims. Pioneers watched out for each other, helping each other where they could. She had her own mind, though, and wouldn’t be boxed into the expected roles of women at the time. Angelica’s foil is the greedy bear, which steals away the results of all their hard work and puts them at risk of starving in the winter to sate its own appetite. Their struggle is an allegory for the conflicts between hard work and taking without contributing, between doing what is right and doing what is easy, between the good of the community and a focus on self. The reader is likely to assume that by the end of the struggle, Angelica will have removed the threat of the bear in one way or another. Their struggle lasts for at least ten days and takes them all over Tennessee. The story ends happily for Angelica, but Thundering Tarnation makes his mark, even today.

The text in Swamp Angel captures the feel of a rural American dialect and could easily be read out loud. As a story rife with hyperbole, realism in the story events is not an expectation. Individuals and common activities become caricatures, based in reality but exaggerated beyond the truth. By examining the illustrations, a young reader could learn about the hardships, chores, and entertainment of daily life on the frontier in the 1800s (if taken with a grain of salt!). As with many traditional tales, it begins with an introduction of the main character as a baby and closes with “proof” of how you can see that the story is true because of something that can be observed in the real world.

  

Angelica is larger than life, and Paul Zelinsky uses perspective to depict how she dwarfs everyone around her – including her loyal, if diminutive, dog, who can be spotted on almost every page if you look carefully. On the other hand, he plays with perceptions. At the beginning of the book, there is a portrait of Angelica with no background to give perspective. She looks like an average young woman, until you realize the small bouquet of flowers she is holding is sunflowers and not wildflowers. Emotions are easily recognizable, whether it is a human or animal. Zelinsky even manages to portray the passage of time in his illustrations, particularly during a three-day wrestling match between Angelica and the bear. The illustration spread shows them battling in multiple locations, as if taken by time lapse photography. To add to the rustic feel of the story, Zelinsky chose wood grain for the backgrounds throughout the book. There is a note on the title page verso that the illustrations were painted on wood veneers, so those backgrounds are his actual painting surfaces. Scenery and clothing are appropriate to the time period, helping to draw the reader into the world of settlers in the nineteenth century. As noted previously, many details about life in the nineteenth century are incorporated into the illustrations, giving a broader view of the time and culture. A comparison of Zelinsky’s illustrations to nineteenth century paintings of the American frontier, especially by artists like Bierstadt, show similar color choices and styles. The illustration on the final page shows a contemporary scene, tying in several elements to the story and bringing the story into modern times.

4. REVIEW EXCERPT(S) AND AWARDS
Caldecott Medal Honor, 1995

Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee, 1997

“Most highly recommended” by H. W. Wilson’s Children’s Core Collection

School Library Journal: “The pictures and words cavort across the page in perfect synchronization, revealing the heroine's feisty solution.”

New York Times Book Review: “There are very few tall tales about extraordinary women in American folklore compared to those that extol the virtues of men, and this comic rendition about a gifted, powerful and helpful woman is in all ways superb.”

Booklist: “Isaacs tells her original story with the glorious exaggeration and uproarious farce of the traditional tall tale and with its typical laconic idiom—you just can't help reading it aloud....Zelinsky's detailed oil paintings in folk-art style are exquisite…”

5. CONNECTIONS

-          Students could compare and contrast Swamp Angel with other American tall tales.

Kellogg, Steven. Paul Bunyan: A Tall Tale. ISBN 0-688-05800-0

Kellogg, Steven. Pecos Bill: A Tall Tale. ISBN 0-688-09924-6

Osborne, Mary Pope. American Tall Tales. ISBN 0-679-90089-6

Wood, Audrey. The Bunyans. ISBN 0-590-48089-8

-          Students could examine the portrayal of women in other tall tales.

Osborne, Mary Pope. American Tall Tales. ISBN 0-679-90089-6 (This book includes a story about Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind.)

San Souci, Robert D. Cut from the Same Cloth: American Women of Myth, Legend, and Tall Tale. ISBN 0-698-11811-1

Mora, Pat. Doña Flor: A Tall Tale about a Giant Woman with a Big Heart. ISBN 0-375-92337-3

Brimner, Larry Dane. Calamity Jane. 0-7565-0600-X

Nolen, Jerdine. Thunder Rose. 978-0-15-216472-0

-          Students could compare and contrast Swamp Angel with other historical fiction or nonfiction materials to learn more about life in the nineteenth century or the locations mentioned in the text, watching for details in the illustrations.

-          Students could watch the video adaptation to see how the original book and the video differ, if there are places where it is handled better in the book or the video, or in preparation for readers’ theater.

Lester, Julius, and Isaacs, Anne. American Tall Tales. (DVD) ISBN: 978-0-439-90438-4