The Trumpet of the Swan

I read this one for the library challenge: re-read a book from your childhood. When I was a kid, I never liked it quite as much as Charlotte’s Web (though by far it was better than Stuart Little, which I never cared for at all). Found that my opinion is pretty much the same as an adult. Though nostalgia has kept this one alive for me- if I were reading it for the first time now, I doubt I would be able to ignore the inconsistencies, some absurd coincidences that stitch the plot together, and occasional word use or attitudes that haven’t really aged well (like referring to the mute swan as defective). I bet kids would still enjoy this book, though sadly my eleven-year-old is probably past the age for it- she’d probably just find it too silly.

It’s about a wild trumpeter swan named Louis who is born mute, can’t make a sound. He’s observed by a quiet boy who is camping in the woods with his father and finds the small pond where the swans live. In this book, the animals talk to each other, but can’t talk to people, however they can understand most human speech. They also have some odd comprehension of human things- which I’m sure I didn’t even notice this as a kid. For example, the father swan knows what a teakettle is, the names of train cars and the use of money, but doesn’t recognize writing instruments. (This swan liked to talk in long descriptions and flowery phrases, which was amusing, especially how his practical wife patiently put up with it).

So when Louis grows up, he falls in love but can’t win a mate without communicating- the female swans just ignore him. The boy helps Louis the swan go to school and learn to read and write. This doesn’t help him with the other swans, as none of them can read! but it proves useful later on, when he interacts a lot with people. The female he likes continues to ignore him. So the father swan flies to a city, breaks into a music store and steals a trumpet. Louis teaches himself how to play it. (Never mind that swans don’t have lips!) He’s determined not only to win the lady swan’s love, but also to regain his family’s honor by paying back the debt his father incurred from stealing a trumpet and breaking a store window. The boy once again helps out- Louis gets a job playing taps at a summer camp, then later goes to a city where he plays music as an attraction on a lake (where people ride a paddle-boat) and after that, he goes to another city to play in a nightclub. He doesn’t really like the nightclub. Coincidentally, the female swan he’s been pining for gets blown out of the sky in a storm, onto the zoo lake where Louis is staying. Louis impresses her with his trumpeting, and having met his goal of earning enough money, is ready to fly back home. But the zoo wants to keep the swans around, and is threatening to clip the female’s wing. Louis bargains for their freedom by promising that in the future, he’ll give the zoo some of his offspring (the “weaker” ones that need more protection and safety). This is one part of the story I had completely forgotten! I’m leaving a lot out, but in the end, Louis and his lady love are back in the wilderness raising a family, the trumpet debt is repaid, and all is well.

The story has a lot of contrast between some lovely nature writing in the beginning and end, when the swans are living in the wilderness. Then all the swan’s adventures in the cities with various mishaps and funny bits (people fighting in the street over Louis’s money, being astonished at meeting a swan that can write, then just accepting it. Others trying to take advantage of the swan. A really brief amusing incident where a duck steals Louis’s trumpet and tries to play it) that I’m sure are more entertaining for kids. Personally of course I liked the parts on the pond in the woods better. And I’m glad the swan liked that life better than visiting a city hotel, too!