Title: Swamp Angel
Author: Anne Isaacs
Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky
Publisher: Anne Isaacs
Awards: Caldecott Honor Book
Publication Date: 1994
Genre: Fiction Folktale Picture Book
Audience: Gr. K-8

Overview: An imaginative tale about an extremely oversized woman named Angelica Longrider, a giant. She earns the nickname of Swamp Angel when she helps some families that are stuck in a tight situation. When a bear, Thundering Tarnation, eats all of the food that a village has stored for the winter, Swamp Angel enters the hunt in an attempt to defeat the bear and save the settlers in the village. The other men that enter the hunt all fail right away, however Swamp Angel is not like most other men, she is much bigger. When she finally meets up with Thundering Tarnation, she realizes that she has met her match.

Activity: At the end of the story, it states that when Thundering Tarnation was thrown into the sky, he ran into a group of stars and left a lasting impression: a constellation in the shape of a bear. Have the children create a constellation that would be made if they were a giant and wrestled a large animal. Have the children state which animal they would wrestle and why they chose that animal.

Reviewer’s Name: Krista Jensen