The Trumpet of the Swan
Louis, a romantic swan, is in love with the angelic Serena, but he can't tell her how he feels; he has no voice. When he meets eleven-year-old Sam Beaver, a human friend, he goes to school with him to learn how to read and write. Louis' father also helps out; he steals a brass trumpet for his son. In the end, Louis learns to play, wins Serena's heart, and repays the music shop owner for his stolen trumpet. Here is a wonderful story of romance, friendship, and determination among animals and humans.
Themes & atmosphere
What you might want to know about The Trumpet of the Swan
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Louis is a young Trumpeter swan born without a voice in a wilderness lake near the border of Canada. To win the love of a swan named Serena and to repay the music store his father robbed, Louis is sent south to a Montana school, then to play trumpet at a Boston swan boat pond and a Philadelphia zoo.
The Trumpet of the Swan was written by E.B. White and published in 1970. It was White's third and final children's novel, after Stuart Little (1945) and Charlotte's Web (1952).
The Trumpet of the Swan is for early middle-grade readers, recommended for ages 7 to 11. The premise of a swan born without a voice who learns to play a trumpet is widely considered a quiet companion to Charlotte's Web.
The Trumpet of the Swan is 210 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, The Trumpet of the Swan takes most readers 3 to 5 hours to finish.
The Trumpet of the Swan is a standalone novel by E. B. White, not part of a series.
The Trumpet of the Swan is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.