Swamp Angel by Anne Isaacs
Isaacs, A. (1996). Swamp Angel. Trumpet Club. (P. Zelinsky, Illustrator) ISBN 9780140559088
When Angelica Longrider was born, there was no sign to suggest she would become one of the best people in Tennessee! Swamp Angel follows Angelica as she perform extraordinary acts that allows her to become known as the "Swamp Angel."
I went into Swamp Angel blind, and what I mean by this is, I did not read a summary of the book beforehand, I did the judgable, and terrible thing, I judged the book by its cover! This is one time where judging a book by its cover did backfire because I was confused for the first bit of the book. It took me an embarrassing long time to realize that Swamp Angel was not an average sized human, and what lead me to this discovery was the illustrations done by Paul O. Zelinsky. In my first read through of the book, I paid attention to the story line more than the illustrations, and I will say that after taking the time to reread the title a second time, but now taking the time to admire the illustration in detail did help with my comprehension. This is a title where I believe that the illustrations are critical for the readers understanding. I did appreciate the detail Zelinsky put into his illustrations such as a tornado that looks like a tornado until you look closer and realize that the tornado is actual Swamp Angel's hair! I also liked how Zelinsky tried to put "normal" sized objects such as a dog near Swamp Angel to illustrated her larger than life size.
The plot itself for Swamp Angel was actioned packed, humous, and fast-paced, which will easily catch the attention of a child. The title is a longer title, being 40 pages, and with higher vocabulary and longer sentence which will best fit the reading level of an old elementary student. Don't let that discourage you from reading it out loud to a younger audience! Zelinsky artistic approach bring a sense of humor that students will be able to appreciate even if they cannot read the title by themselves. Images of Swamp Angel wresting with the bear, and being sneezed away, for instance, are examples of illustrators that are sure to have the younger readers giggling away!
dsfsdf Hazel Rochman from Booklist says Swamp Angel "oil paintings in folk-art style are exquisite, famed in cherry, maple and birch wood grains. [And] they are hilarious making brilliant use of perspective to extend the mischief and the droll of understatement." She also states that, "Isaacs tells her original story with the glorious exaggeration and uproarious farce of the traditional tall-tale."
sd Readers who enjoyed Swamp Angel, will also enjoy reading Dust Devil, the sequel to Swamp Angel, where we follow Angelica after her move to Montana! If your readers are anything like me, a great activity or assignment for them to complete after reading Swamp Angel would be to research more about Shortgrass Prairies, and the Bear constellation to learn more about where the inspiration for Swamp Angel came from!
Some awards for this title include:
- 1995 Caldecott Honor Book
- 2013 Phoenix Picture Book Award by the Children's Literature Association
- 1995 Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Book
- 1994 ALA Notable Book
- New York Public Library, 100 Books Every Child Should Read
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