“Birds are a special problem, birds are hard to deal with.” This is what many people seem to think, and understandably, when a bird has just robbed their shop. However, Louis, in E.B.White’s The Trumpet of the Swan, proves exactly the opposite. Louis is a swan who was born with no ability to make sound or communicate with his family. His father breaks into a store in Montana to find Louis a trumpet so that he can make swan sounds like everyone else and persuade Serena, the swan he loves, to be his mate. With the help of Sam Beaver, an animal-loving boy, he goes to school and learns to communicate with humans by writing on a slate. He also works to earn money to pay for the stolen trumpet by playing songs which Sam helps him learn. The Trumpet of the Swan is special because of the strong relationship that forms between Sam and Louis, right from when Louis first meets Sam in the woods of Canada, and how they work together to solve Louis’s problems. Their friendship is the heart of the story and is what makes it a forever favorite for me. Something that surprised me was finding humor in an otherwise moving story. One instance among several that comes to mind is when Louis is swimming in front of the swan boat in Boston playing “Row, Row, Row Your Boat” when a boy shouts, “This swan is as good as Louis Armstrong, I’m going to call him Louis.” Then Louis writes on his slate, “That’s actually my name.” This really made me laugh. White’s poetic description of nature is another feature I enjoyed. For example, the coming of spring is described as a time when “Warm air, soft and kind, blew through the trees.” With elements of humor, suspense, and realistic imagery, The Trumpet of the Swan is a classic that many people will easily relate to and that you just can’t read too many times. Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White. HarperCollins, 1970. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book? Or do you plan on reading it? Let us know in the comments below!
Book Reviews
“Dreams” by Langston Hughes, Reviewed by Arielle, 13
In his poem “Dreams,” Langston Hughes puts heart-touching words to address society and the world. Hughes develops the idea that life is hard when you don’t have dreams. He develops this theme by using repetition and metaphors. First, Hughes uses repetition. For example, Hughes restates the line, “Hold fast to dreams” twice. He is trying to emphasize that you should really hold on to your dreams and chase them. You should do this no matter what because otherwise your dreams may slip away. Another way Hughes uses repetition is through his line structure. The first 3 stanzas in each verse start with the same 3 words: Hold, For, and Life. To describe a world without dreams, Langston Hughes uses two metaphors. The first metaphor is: “Life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” Here Hughes compares a frustrating life without dreams to a “broken-winged bird.” When Hughes makes this comparison, I picture a bird’s broken wing who can’t fly but tries his or her hardest. It makes me think life may be hard, but you can still try to make it better. This reminds me of my dad. In 2018, he had a seizure and passed out on the floor. My uncle found him and took him to the hospital. Ever since then, he’s been sick, but he gets better every day. My dad’s situation has demonstrated to me that you can bounce back. No matter what he’s going through he still keeps fighting. The second metaphor Hughes uses is: “Life is a barren field Frozen with snow.” This image makes us see how hard it would be to get back on your feet after losing something as dearly important as your dreams. This reminds me of my cousin. She loved the house she raised her children in. One time her checks came in but they weren’t enough to pay her rent that month. Then the same thing happened the next month, so she got evicted. She felt hurt and cried. She was devastated and forced to stay in a homeless shelter. She went around looking for a new home, but the houses she looked at were too expensive or not available. She went back to the shelter, feeling stuck. Because she remembered her dreams, she never gave up. She realized she had to push herself harder, and eventually she found another house and got on her feet. Both images let us see how Hughes thinks about how life is so hard without dreams. By using repetition and metaphors, Hughes allows the reader to get pulled in to get thinking about the importance of dreams. You have to be diligent to get what you want and you have to prove yourself. Then maybe “the barren field filled with snow” won’t be so hard after all. Read Langston Hughes’s “Dreams” here. The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes by Langston Hughes. VintageClassics, 1995. Buy the book here and support Stone Soup in the process! Have you read this book, or any poems by Hughes? Let us know in the comments below!
The Lord of the Rings, Reviewed by Daniel, 10
Most people have heard of The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J.R.R Tolkien. But what many people have not heard of is where the monsters and magic in it come from. The truth is, the creatures from The Lord of the Rings, which include giants, dwarves, orcs, trolls, elves, have origins that can be traced back to the beginning of civilization and can also be followed into the world of modern-day novels. The same is true with the magic from The Lord of the Rings. This legendary novel very deep roots in both the mythology of ancient times and the stories and books of modern days. Creatures Many creatures from The Lord of the Rings come from Norse and Greek mythology and other ancient legends. These creatures include giants, dwarves, elves, orcs, and trolls. You can both trace these creatures’ origins very far back in history, or look at how they have impacted modern-day novels. Giants Giants are very ancient creatures. They are basically just enlarged humanoids and originate from Greek mythology. The “Gigantes,” Gaea’s (Mother Earth) offspring, were huge giants, even bigger than the Titans, that were birthed to overthrow the Olympians. Each Olympian had a corresponding giant made to defeat it; Porphyrion was made to defeat Zeus, Polybotes was made to defeat Poseidon, Alcyoneus was made to defeat Hades, etc. Polyphemus and the Titans were also giants. Giants pretty much always play an antagonist role; out of all the Titans and Giants, the only protagonists were Prometheus and Epimetheus. The Lord of the Rings is no exception; all of the giants fight for Sauron, the main antagonist in the novel. And the giants’ influence doesn’t stop there; they are also the main antagonists of the Percy Jackson (Titans) and Heroes of Olympus (Giants) series, both by Rick Riordan. Dwarves Dwarves originate from ancient Norse mythology. According to the site “Dwarves-North Mythology For Smart People”, dwarves were once called dvergr (Old Norse), dweorg (Old English), twerg (Old High German), and dwergaz (Proto-Germanic). In Norse mythology, dwarves are craftsmen. They crafted Thor’s hammer, Mjollnir, the chain that bound Fenrir the Wolf, Gleipnir, Freyr’s magical ship, Skidbladnir, etc. In The Lord of the Rings, the dwarves are also craftsmen; most of the weapons in The Lord of the Rings were crafted by dwarves. The most recent novel that incorporates dwarves is the bestselling series Artemis Fowl. However, they do not play a craftsmen role in this series. Rather, they are depicted as creatures that burrow through the dirt and get nutrition from the soil. Elves Nowadays, elves are often depicted as little creatures that help Santa deliver presents. But they are much older than the time that the myth of Santa Claus started. In Norse mythology, elves are depicted as demigod-like (half man and half god) beings. Elves have the power to cause human illnesses, but they also have the power to cure them. Elves are protagonists in many stories and are very wise. In fact, when Frodo, Sam, and Pippin depart on their journey, Sam wishes that he could meet some elves on the journey, and he was very glad when he did. Like Norse mythology, elves look very much like humans in The Lord of the Rings and also have magical powers. Elves are depicted in the same way in the new series Keeper of the Lost Cities by Shannon Messenger; the elves in this series are basically near-immortal humans, and some of them have magical powers. Orcs Orcs also originate from Norse mythology. According to Britannica.com, the word “orc” was first used to describe a demon or an ogre in the poem “Beowulf,” a very famous epic from Norse mythology about a hero, Beowulf, and his friends fighting a monster. The word orc most likely derives from the Latin Orcus, which was the name of a god of the underworld. Like many other stories, orcs are antagonists in The Lord of the Rings, simply because of their reputation as evil creatures. While orcs may not be very common in modern-day novels, they are in many different board games, card games, and video games, such as Dungeons and Dragons, Magic: The Gathering, and Warcraft. Trolls Trolls originate from the Scandinavian area. While many people think that trolls are usually short and stout, Mythology.net says that there is another type of troll in Scandinavian mythology that is as big as a giant! The short and stout type is called huldrefolk, and the big type is called jotnar. The jotnar is the type of troll in The Lord of the Rings; In the movie, they can grow up to be 10-50 feet tall! They are basically always antagonists, also because of their reputation as evil beings. However, a recent movie, Trolls, depicts the trolls as funny and happy. The trolls in this movie are short, but not as stout as the huldrefolk, and are very colorful and cheery. Magic Along with the amazing creatures in The Lord of the Rings, there is also a lot of magic. This includes elven magic, wizard magic, and dark magic. These ideas of these types of magic are also very old, and can also be found in modern-day novels. Elven Magic (Enchantment) As mentioned earlier, elves are magical creatures. Their magic is very powerful. In fact, the three rings that they crafted are the second most powerful Rings of Power out of all twenty rings; only the One Rings, which was crafted by Sauron himself, is more powerful, They were also able to enchant items and objects. One king had a river as a border that would make people fall asleep and dream deeply! Enchanters and enchantresses can be found in almost every major mythology; many weapons, such as Thor’s hammer, Odin’s spear, Helen of Troy’s dagger, etc. and other items used in war were enchanted to grant the wearer safety and/or give them an offensive advantage. Enchantment is a very commonly used type of magic in the modern-day series The Kane
