It's been said that to fully appreciate Shakespeare's
King Lear one should be middle-age or older, as a younger audience isn't capable of grasping the horror of old age. I feel the same about
Queen of the Falls by Chris Van Allsburg. To his credit, Allsburg does his best to mitigate the depressing story of Annie Edson Taylor, the first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel. He portrays Taylor as the plucky enterprising woman that she was, coming up with the scheme when she was in her early sixties, devising a barrel that would withstand the falls, and bravely entering the barrel not knowing if she would survive, and if she did, in what condition.
But Allsburgh can't hide the underlying circumstances that propelled Taylor to undertake such a perilous adventure. For Taylor wasn't your typical daredevil, eager to risk life and limb for the thrill of it. No, Taylor was desperate. Left a widow with little money, she faced the prospect of spending her declining years in the poorhouse. With few options open to her, she convinced herself that going over the falls would make her rich. Allsburg describes her quest to conquer Niagara Falls in gripping detail. Truly, the reader feels as if he or she is inside the barrel right along with Taylor.
Amazingly, Taylor survived with only a few minor cuts and bruises. Once recovered, she expected to cash in on her daring deed. Frank Russell, a promoter she hired, took her on tours, the pair riding on trains from town to town with the barrel. Fame and fortune failed to materialize. Again and again, the audience was dismayed to find Taylor, a plump grandmotherly type, the heroic conquerer of the falls. Put bluntly, she didn't fit the part. After Russell absconded with the barrel, Taylor was able to get it back. She hired a second promoter, but he too stole the barrel, this time for good. Not one to quit, Taylor had another barrel made and for years displayed it in a park near Niagara Falls, selling souvenir postcards and pamphlets about her famous achievement. She did this for years, never earning much money.
Allsburg ends his picture book on an upbeat note, giving Annie Taylor the last words. "...it was the greatest feat ever performed. And I am content when I can say, "I am the one who did it.'"
The illustrations by Allsburg, Caldecott winner of
The Polar Express, are all done in sepia-tones, helping to set the book firmly in the past. With incredibly detailed realism, they resemble newspaper photos. Yet no camera could capture Taylor's terrified expression inside the barrel as it crashes over the falls.
Children reading or listening to this biography will be caught up in the thrilling tale, and probably won't be aware of its sad undertones. For them, old age is far, far away. Adults, though, hearing news reports of cuts to Social Security, might well ponder Taylor's fate. I know I do.
Queen of the Falls
by Chris Van Allsburg
Houghton Mifflin, 40 pages
Published: April 2011
Yesterday, I was among a crowd of at least 100 people at Schuler Books in Okemos, MI to hear, Caldecott Award winning children’s book author/illustrator,
Chris Van Allsburg speak. Allsburg, a native of Grand Rapids, MI, took questions for just about an hour before signing books.
It was an amazing hour as not only did Chris Van Allsburg answer questions from the audience, but he would often refer to his many published books while talking. He shared stories about how he got started writing books (he originally went to the University of Michigan as an art major primarily studying and practicing sculpture). He also shared how he got some of the ideas for his stories. This was fascinating for me, and there were several moments where I was just blown away by how easy it seemed to be for him.
Some of what I thought were highlights from the question and answer discussion:
* Chris’ take on e-books: He was quite candid and frank about this saying that when it comes to picture books, the reader really loses out. He cited several of his books, one being The Polar Express
, as examples because of their format and layout, the quality of resolution in the pictures is drastically lowered by making it fit onto an e-reader or iPad.
* While I’ve been a fan, I had never seen his book: Bad Day At Riverbend
. I was enthralled by his description of how he came up with this story, which is basically the characters in a coloring book reacting and trying to figure out some of the strange things going on in Riverbend (A child has scribbled in crayon on the pages…but they don’t figure it out). Incidentally, this book is dedicated to one of his daughters, who happened to have an affinity of scribbling in crayon in not just coloring books.
* On the question of which of his books is his favorite: I loved his answer, “The next one I’m going to work on.”
* One little girl asked a great question: “Did you ever want to give up when your editor didn’t like your story?” Chris shared that he wa
Wow, that sounds gripping, depressing and amazing. I wonder if my 8 yo would go for it.