Swamp Angel

Swamp Angel 

Author: Anne Isaacs

Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky 

Genre: Fantasy 

Awards: Caldecott Honor

Grade: 1st-4th 

Swamp Angel follows Angelica Longrider through her journey of finding and defeating of finding a huge bear. Angelica Longrider is several times taller than everyone else. She is deemed the "Swamp Angel" when she saves travelers from the swamp when their wagons get stuck. When she entered the competition to find the bear all of the men tried to get her to change her mind because they saw her as incapable. She was the only one in all of Tennesse to fight the bear, who is named Thundering Tarnation, and win. She defeats Thundering Tarnation by causing a tree to fall down and land on the bear. That night everyone in Tennesse was fed and Angelica made a rug out of Thundering Tarnation fur and moved to Montana to spread it out in front of her cabin. 

This book could be used to teach students that if they wish to achieve something they should not let other people's opinions prevent them from doing so. This book could also be used to show how a difference in size can affect things.