This article refers to the children's novel. For the animated film, see The Trumpet of the Swan (film)

The Trumpet of the Swan (film)

The Trumpet of the Swan is a 2001 animated film produced by RichCrest Animation Studios, directed by Richard Rich, and distributed by TriStar Pictures, being TriStar's first animated film since 1988's Pound Puppies and the Legend of Big Paw.-Plot:...

The Trumpet of the Swan is a children's novel by E.B. White published in 1970. It tells the story of Louis, a Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swan

The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, is the largest native North American bird, if measured in terms of weight and length, and is the largest living waterfowl species on earth. It is the North American counterpart of the European Whooper Swan.-Description:Males typically measure from and weigh...

 born without a voice and trying to overcome it by learning to play a trumpet

Trumpet

The trumpet is the musical instrument with the highest register in the brass family. Trumpets are among the oldest musical instruments, dating back to at least 1500 BCE. They are played by blowing air through closed lips, producing a "buzzing" sound which starts a standing wave vibration in the air...

, always trying to impress a beautiful pen

Swan

Swans, genus Cygnus, are birds of the family Anatidae, which also includes geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form the tribe Cygnini. Sometimes, they are considered a distinct subfamily, Cygninae...

 named Serena.

Plot summary

In Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 in the spring of 1968, the cob, the name for an adult male swan, and the pen, the name for an adult female swan, both members of the swan sub-species Trumpeter Swan

Trumpeter Swan

The Trumpeter Swan, Cygnus buccinator, is the largest native North American bird, if measured in terms of weight and length, and is the largest living waterfowl species on earth. It is the North American counterpart of the European Whooper Swan.-Description:Males typically measure from and weigh...

 build their summer nest on a small island in a pond. Sam Beaver, an 11-year-old boy on a camping trip, observes them, and saves the female from being attacked by a fox. The swans begin to trust him, and Sam gets to see their five eggs hatch. All of the cygnets chirp at Sam in greeting, except for the youngest, who can make no sound and pulls his shoelace instead.

The cygnets' parents are increasingly concerned about their youngest son, Louis, who turns out to be mute. They worry that when he grows up, he will not be able to find a mate if he cannot trumpet like all the other swans. Louis's father promises to find a way for him to communicate. At the end of summer, the swan family flies to the winter refuge, Red Rock Lakes

Red Rock Lakes Wilderness

The Red Rock Lakes Wilderness is within the Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge in southwest Montana, United States. The wilderness occupies more than three fourths of the refuge and was set aside to enhance species preservation, especially for such waterfowl as the trumpeter swan...

 in Montana

Montana

Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...

. Louis decides he should learn to read and write in order to communicate, and flies away from the refuge. Because Sam Beaver lives nearby, he happily takes his swan friend to school with him the next morning. Louis turns out to be a natural at reading and writing, and Sam buys him a portable blackboard and chalk so he can communicate.

Unfortunately, because the other swans cannot read, Louis is still lonely when he returns to the Red Rock Lakes. He falls in love with a young swan, Serena, but cannot attract her attention. Louis's father flies to a music store in Billings, Montana

Billings, Montana

Billings is the largest city in the U.S. state of Montana, and is the principal city of the Billings Metropolitan Area, the largest metropolitan area in over...

, crashes through the window, and steals a brass trumpet on a cord to give to his son. Louis feels guilty about his father's theft, but accepts the instrument. Serena has migrated north, so Louis returns to Sam's ranch. Sam suggests that Louis get a job so he can pay the store for the trumpet and the damaged window, and Louis finds a position as camp bugler at Camp Kookooskoos, the boys' camp Sam attends.

Louis plays taps

Taps

"Taps" is a musical piece sounded by the U.S. military nightly to indicate that it is "lights out". The tune is also sometimes known as "Butterfields Lullaby", or by the lyrics of its second verse, "Day is Done". It is also played during flag ceremonies and funerals, generally on bugle or trumpet...

, reveille

Reveille

"Reveille" is a bugle call, trumpet call or pipes call most often associated with the military or summer camp; it is chiefly used to wake military personnel at sunrise...

, and mess call, and composes a love song for Serena. He convinces Sam to split one of his webbed feet with a razor blade, making "fingers," so he can play more notes. He also rescues Applegate Skinner, an unpopular camper who nearly drowns. At the end of summer, Louis receives the Lifesaving Medal

Lifesaving Medal

The Gold Lifesaving Medal and Silver Lifesaving Medal are civil and military decorations of the United States Coast Guard which was first established by Act of Congress, 20 June 1874; later authorized by Title 14 of the United States Code Section 500-501...

, a waterproof moneybag, and $100. Sam suggests that Louis get a job with the Swan Boats

Swan Boats (Boston, Massachusetts)

The Swan Boats are a fleet of pleasure boats operating on the lake of the Public Garden in Boston, Massachusetts. The boats have been operating since 1877, and have become a cultural icon for the city. They operate from April until September....

 in Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

. He flies across country and becomes an instant success, with a salary of $100 per week. He even stays in the Ritz Hotel.

A Philadelphia nightclub offers Louis a higher salary, $500 per week. He leaves Boston and takes up residence at the Philadelphia Zoo

Philadelphia Zoo

The Philadelphia Zoo, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the west bank of the Schuylkill River, was the first zoo in the United States. Chartered by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on March 21, 1859, its opening was delayed by the American Civil War until July 1, 1874...

. The zookeeper promises that Louis will not be pinioned

Pinioning

Pinioning is the act of surgically removing the pinion joint, the joint of a bird's wing farthest from the body, to prevent flight. Pinioning is often done to waterfowl and poultry. It is not typically done to companion bird species such as parrots....

 (have a wing tip cut off to prevent escape) like all the other swans at the zoo. One windy night, Serena, blown off course, falls into Bird Lake. Louis serenades her with his trumpet, and she finally notices him. But when the zookeepers spot Serena, they try to clip her wings, and Louis attacks them. He convinces the Head Man to postpone the operation for a short while, and sends a telegram to Sam, asking for help. Sam goes to Philadelphia and strikes a deal with the Head Man: in every litter of cygnets there is always one that needs special care and protection, and if Louis is willing to donate an occasional cygnet to the zoo, the Head Man will let Louis and Serena go free.

Louis and Serena fly back to the Red Rock Lakes. Louis writes an apology on his slate and gives it and the moneybag to his father, who flies back to the music store in Billings. Afraid that the swan will destroy another window, the storekeeper shoots the old cob in the shoulder. The cob recovers and flies back to the Red Rock Lakes. In the country, when Sam is about 20 years old, he is again camping in Canada, and hears Louis playing taps to his children. He writes in his journal: Tonight I heard Louis's horn. My father heard it, too. The wind was right, and I could hear the notes of taps, just as darkness fell. There is nothing in all the world I like better than the trumpet of the swan.

Reception

The book received a strongly positive review by John Updike

John Updike

John Hoyer Updike was an American novelist, poet, short story writer, art critic, and literary critic....

 in The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

, in which he said "While not quite so sprightly as Stuart Little

Stuart Little

Stuart Little is a 1945 children's novel by E. B. White, his first book for children, and is widely recognized as a classic in children's literature. Stuart Little was illustrated by the subsequently award-winning artist Garth Williams, also his first work for children...

, and less rich in personalities and incident than Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web

Charlotte's Web is an award-winning children's novel by acclaimed American author E. B. White, about a pig named Wilbur who is saved from being slaughtered by an intelligent spider named Charlotte. The book was first published in 1952, with illustrations by Garth Williams.The novel tells the story...

-- that paean to barnyard life by a city humorist turned farmer -- The Trumpet of the Swan has superior qualities of its own; it is the most spacious and serene of the three, the one most imbued with the author's sense of the precious instinctual heritage represented by wild nature"

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

In 1972 a piece by composer Benjamin Lees

Benjamin Lees

Benjamin Lees was a contemporary U.S. composer of Art music, born in Harbin, China, raised in San Francisco and lived in Palm Springs, California.-Early life:...

 based on The Trumpet of the Swan was performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra

Philadelphia Orchestra

The Philadelphia Orchestra is a symphony orchestra based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States. One of the "Big Five" American orchestras, it was founded in 1900...

 (an orchestra with which Louis is mentioned as giving a guest performance).

An animated version of the book was made in 2001 by RichCrest Animation Studios

RichCrest Animation Studios

Crest Animation Productions is an animation studio located in Burbank, California, United States. The studio was founded by Richard Rich, who previously worked at Disney. The studio's first and most famous film was The Swan Princess, which was rather successful on initial release...

 and was released theatrically in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 on limited release. It was not well received by critics. Many stated the animation was poor, that the charm of the original book was lost, the characters were dull, the casting did not match, the songs were unmemorable and that the character design was awful. But the most common criticism of the film version was that it did not follow the original story well. This disappointed many fans of the book. According to Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes

Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...

, it scored 13% rotten on the tomato-meter.