Swamp Angel

Author: Anne Isaacs
Illutrator: Paul O. Zelinsky
Publisher and date of publication: Penguin Puttnam Books for Young Readers 1994
Genre: Tall Tale, Folklore, Picture Book (Multicultural)
Grade: K-5
Caldecott Honor Book

Angelical Longrider was born in Tennessee and was much taller than her mother. When she was 12 she saved a wagon train and they named her "Swamp Angel". There once was a bear named Thundering Tarnation that was terrorizing a town. The townspeople offered a reward to the hunter that could kill the bear. "Swamp Angel" along with many other men signed up for the hunt. They teased her for thinking she could hunt down this Thundering Tarnation because she was a girl. Tarnation out witted all the hunters except Swamp Angel. She wrestled with the bear through the mountains and lassoed a tornado to bring him back to earth. She wrestled him into a lake where she drank up all the water. The bear finally had her pinned so she took her tobacco pouch and made the bear sniff it. He sneezed so hard that the Swamp Angel flew into the air. They soon began to wrestle again but they were so tired they fell asleep. They snored so loud that trees fell down and one landed on the bear and killed it. The Swamp Angel fed everyone all around with the dead bear. She kept his pelt for a rug, she laid it in Montana and it is now called the Shortgrass Prairie.

What a wonderful tall tale. I had never heard of this story or anyone like it. First of all I loved the fact that it was about a women. In so many other tall tales it is often about a man of some sort. So, to have this one be about a woman who was tender hearted yet brave as a man made me very happy. I really enjoyed the Swamp Angel character. She embraced all that I would have expected to see in a southern, Tennessee woman. When asked if she should be home making pies, she replied "I aim to a bear pie". I love how she was witty and full of southern goodness. Her reply to this question was my favorite because she was like yeah I'll make a pie when I get done killing this bear. I also loved the part about the Great Smoky Mountains.

How the author portrayed the creation of these mountains was amazing. I know it’s not true but they way she wrote this story made me want to believe that this was why they are all smokey. That something this beautiful could be created from something so bizarre. I guess that’s the fun all a tall tale.

There are so many ways that this could be used in the classroom. I personally think it would be fun to have students create their own tall tale. I would also like for them to use the idea of taking a natural landform and coming up with their own creative way of have it be created. It could be the Grand Canyon, a lake, mountains or anything that sparks their imagination. I think that this book would be a great way to talk about the culture of Tennessee. The language used in the book is very southern and students would love exploring why different regions have different dialects. It could also be used to compare to other tall tales and see what they have in common and what makes them so different. I would enjoy reading this book in my class and I think your students would to.