Swart pens children’s book, plus wildlife tales.

Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, December 10, 2019

Evelyn Swart has only ridden an elephant once, but on that ride, she found the inspiration for a book that might help young children learn to read. Swart and artist-collaborator Leita Barlow will sign their book, Polly Rides an Elephant, at the Bookloft, Saturday, Dec. 14, from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.

On a trip to Thailand several years ago, Evelyn’s husband, Don, decided to go for an elephant ride. He persuaded Evelyn to come along. Their 4-year-old granddaughter, Emi, insisted in joining them. “I thought it would be a short ride,” Evelyn said. “But Emi had a different idea.”

The 4-year–old wanted a long ride on the elephant, and, the only Thai-speaker among the three of them, she refused to ask the Thai mahout (elephant trainer) to turn around. And so they continued for quite a long distance until the trail reached a river.

“I had the vision of the elephant taking us all for a swim, or maybe filling her trunk with muddy river water and squirting us all,” Evelyn said. “It was turning out to be not a pleasant experience.”

But the mahout’s better sense prevailed and with a grin, he turned the elephant around and they ambled back to the trailhead.

“Since then, I’ve wanted to write the story of a somewhat petulant and determined girl who defies the odds and does what she has in mind,” Swart said.

The result is a charming book, captivatingly illustrated by friend, poet and Wallowa County artist Barlow. It tells the story of what might have happened if Emi could have continued the adventure she seemed to have in mind that day in the Thai forest.

Swart wrote the book partly to help young readers learn to understand and navigate the written page. She has a deep background in teaching reading, including B.A. and M.Ed. degrees in education, more than a decade as principal and superintendent in rural Idaho school districts, four years as an elementary reading specialist with the Idaho Department of Education and several years as a reading education instructor at Boise State University.

“It’s been really important work for me,” she said.

After moving to Wallowa County in 2001, Swart joined a Fishtrap-based writing group for women, aptly named Write Women. The group included Janie Tippett, Pamela Royes, Katherine Stickroth and Barlow. Swart found inspiration and began writing more, including stories about animals, some poetry, and some creative nonfiction. But she always dreamed about producing the ideal book to help children learn to read.

Barlow seemed a natural to illustrate the book. With a degree in art (“a million years ago,” she noted) and a penchant for poetry, she and Swart shared creative interests in the Write Women group. Barlow divided Swart’s book into illustrative segments, including brief encounters with a snake, a crocodile and a tiger, and created watercolors to tell the tale visually.

The book’s forward provides Swart’s suggestions for helping young readers learn. Chief among them is talking about the pictures and predicting where the story might lead.

“The pictures are an essential part of telling, envisioning and understanding the story,” Swart said. “Discussing the pictures prior to reading the story helps build the necessary vocabulary for reading comprehension.”

The book’s graphical layout was completed by Tara Porter. Ed Pitt and his Art West Press published the book.

The Dec. 14 book signing will also include Critter Chronicles, another of Swart’s books, hot off the Art West press. It contains ten heartwarming stories of how animals may view the world, including “Squirrels dither on the environment,” and “Basil the Bear wakes too early.” They are great stories to read aloud, and fun for, as Swart noted, “…anyone from age 7 on up.”

Disclosure: The Chieftain editor helped with photography and initial layout of Polly Rides an Elephant, but receives no monetary compensation for this work.