A couple of months ago I reviewed Idaho Madams by Milana Marsenich. In my post I mentioned that, in addition to history and western fiction, Marsenich has also written a children's book, Lily and the Trumpeter Swan. She was so happy that she offered to send me a print copy as a thank you. Thank you, Milana! To read more about her other writing check out my original post HERE
More about Lily and the Trumpeter Swan
Lily and her Papa race toward the loud shrills coming from the Cattail Marsh where a red berried vine ties a trumpeter swan to the shoreline. Winter is coming. To survive, he needs to fly now.
Will Lily find the courage to help free the young swan?
Thoughts about Lily and the Trumpeter Swan
At my house we have ducks, geese and the occasional heron as well as a wide variety of songbirds, but no swans. Swans aren't the kind of bird I expect to see "in the wild" in a flock. So for me, this story made me think about swans in a new way.
This story was interesting because it opens up the door to two conversations. You can talk to your child about nature: birds, migration, the changing seasons. But you can also talk about overcoming fear. Both the trapped swan and the main character Lily were afraid but found the courage they needed. It's a sweet story that has you rooting for everyone.
Although Lily, her father and their horse were traditional drawings, the natural backgrounds of this books seemed to be a merging of photographs by Jan Myers and drawings by Alisa Ball into marvelously realistic and beautiful images that will make you feel as if you have landed in an autumn day in Montana.
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