The Trumpet of the Swan is a book by acclaimed children's writer E.B.White. It was published in 1970 and tells the story of a trumpeter swan named Louis who is born mute. Over the course of the story, Louis tries to compensate for his lack of voice by learning how to play the trumpet to try to woo the beautiful swan Serena. The story also follows the friendship of Sam (an 11 year old boy) who befriends the swans and Louis. Sam takes Louis to school and helps him learn to read and write so that Louis may communicate in a written form.
Despite not reaching the public acclaim of "Stuart Little" and "Charlotte's web," the book was very positively reviewed in the New York Times and very well received by the public. The success of the book has generated an animated film adaption made in 2001 but received terrible reviews from critics for its unfaithfulness to the original text and for the poor production quality. An audiobook read by White himself was released. An orchestral piece composed by Benjamin Lees and performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra (a homage to the book as Louis is mentioned to have been a guest performer with the orchestra). In 2011 a novel symphony was adapted by Marsha Norman with music conducted by Jason Robert Brown .
