Swamp Angel

Title: Swamp Angel
Author: Issacs, Anne
Illustrator: Zelinsky, Paul
Publisher: Puffin Books, 1994
Genre: Picture Book, Tall Tale, Traditional Literature
Age Range: 2-5th grade

Summary: This book is a tall tale about a girl, Angelica Longrider and her adventure with Thundering Tarnation. It all began when Angelica was a young girl. Her family never thought that she would become such a legend, but she did! When a larger than life bear, Tarnation, began destroying the town and taking all the winter rations of food a competition was set out to catch him. The winner would get to keep his pelt and be a hero! Angelica (later known as Swamp Angel because she once came out of the swamp to help some stranded folks) entered the contest. Many of the men downgraded her by saying "go make a pie" or "go quilt." But Angel didn't give up. After wrestling with Tarnation and by sheer luck killing him by snoring down a tree, the town was restored to order. Everyone was fed by Tarnation and even had enough to stock themselves through the winter!

Response: HAHA! What an amazing book, in so many different ways. I actually began reading this book to myself and then I thought, "this would be much better read outloud." So, I read it to my cat. I LOVED IT! Tall Tales having always been some of my favorite stories. I love hearing what these larger than life people create, such as the

Smokey Mountains

Shortgrass Prairie


and the Great Bear Constellation.



I also LOVED the way this book was layed out. The border really made a difference for me. I felt like I was looking back in time. One of my favorite pages was where Tarnation was introduced and his head and paws were going around the edges of the border. How creative of Zelinsky! It is so interesting that he used oils on actually wood to make the pictures. How much more realistic can you get? That fits the story perfectly. Another thing I enjoyed was the dialect. Issacs really allows the reader to get a sense of Tennessee. "Tarnation," and "Confound it" are just two of the words that are very native to the south. I also enjoyed how Angel was portrayed. She wasn't the typical girl. She held her own against the boys, she even had tobacco! :) haha Swamp Angel would be so neat in comparison to Paul Bunyan. I would love to have a story where the two meet!

Teaching Ideas: I don't think I could list all the ways this book could be used in the classroom. Of course it SHOULD be used to teach Tall Tales. Why not have students make up their own story of Paul Bunyan and Swamp Angel - What happens when they meet? Or have students write a short play on how another piece of nature was formed using Tall Tale personalities. Ideas could come from; Grandfather Mountain, the Sun, The Grand Canyon etc... This book also does a great job of illustrating a strong woman. Perhaps you could choose other books that do the same and teach them too. Here is a good handout with ideas for this book! This is a great piece of literature and I plan on using it in my own class!

- jeana