Written by Anne Renaud
Illustrated by Marie Lafrance
Kids Can Press
978-1-77138-376-9
32 pp.
Ages 4-8
September 2018
Stories about extraordinary people will always grab young readers' attention. They want to know how they lived, mundane and otherwise, with this need, subconscious or otherwise, to compare to their own lives. What would it have been like? How would they have managed the celebrity or the attention or the tragedies? Biographies give us a glimpse into the lives of others while providing us with opportunities for introspection. And for children, seeing into these lives can spark empathy and compassion and greater understanding about the world at large. Though Anna Swan's story is undoubtedly greater than can be revealed in a picture book–Anne Renaud does append the story with more details about Anna Swan, including photos and references–The True Tale of a Giantess allows children the opportunity to learn and grow.
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| From The True Tale of a Giantess by Anne Renaud, illus. by Marie Lafrance |
Anna Swan, born in 1846 near present-day Tatamagouche, Nova Scotia, was a large baby at birth (13 lbs.) and, continuing to grow, drew the attention of the local communities, shown off by her parents at country fairs as the Infant Giantess. As a teen, she was invited by P. T. Barnum to participate at his Barnum's American Museum in New York City and also travel. While her childhood may have been filled with Anna trying to fit into clothes, shoes, beds, desks and through doorways, her new life gave her a chance to "
dream of a life as big as me." She met Queen Victoria and fell in love and married Martin Van Buren Bates, the Kentucky Mountain Giant, with whom she toured as the Tallest Married Couple on Earth. (Anna was 7'11.5" and Martin was 7'8".)
The couple eventually settled in Ohio where they built a house with furnishings to accommodate them as well as their guests, adopted a monkey named Buttons and farmed. "
At last, we had a life where everyone fit."
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| From The True Tale of a Giantess by Anne Renaud, illus. by Marie Lafrance |
Though Anna Swan is seen as a curiosity,
Anne Renaud speaks little of her height and more about her experiences growing up and seeing the world before finding a way to make the world fit for her and those she loved. Thus,
The True Tale of a Giantess is more about the positive messages of the wonder than the difficulties of the weird. Anna Swan is portrayed as a child of grace who appreciated her home and became a woman of dignity who showed compassion and acceptance. That gentleness of story is embodied in
Marie Lafrance's drawings. From her soft lines of dress and nature to the greens and greys so prevalent in her colours,
Marie Lafrance takes the reader to another time when girls wore long dresses and a little girl from Nova Scotia could become a celebrity as the Tallest Girl in the World.
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| From The True Tale of a Giantess by Anne Renaud, illus. by Marie Lafrance |
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