Queen of the Falls

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Using Taylor as the heroine of his story, Chris Van Allsburg creates detailed charcoal drawings to complete Annie Taylor's life story, from widowhood to celebrity to forgotten "stunter". She was a charm school teacher who yearned for more and thought she could make money and achieve fame by her famous stunt. The opposition is a natural one; the Falls. There are also human opponents, for example the man who refused to have any part of Annie building a suitable barrel. PLAN Queen of the Falls is the true story of former charm school teacher, Annie Edson Taylor, who decides that the path to fame and fortune is surviving a trip over Niagra Falls in a barrel. No one expects Annie, a grandmotherly sort, to make it, but her specially-designed barrel does the job and to everyone's amazement, she has only minor injuries after the barrel ride. Annie's plan is to then tour the country speaking about her accomplishment, but no one seems to believe her...

Chris was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan on June 18, 1949, the second child of Doris Christiansen Van Allsburg and Richard Van Allsburg. His sister Karen was born in 1947. THE EMOTIONAL LANDSCAPE — Apparently, Annie was the first to ever pull this stunt. Three men went down before (half a century before) and plunged to their deaths. Many who came after were younger, fitter and had the huge psychological advantage of knowing that it had been done before. The artwork is amazing and beautiful. It is beyond stunning here. I can't believe how talented Chris is.Considering that this is a work of nonfiction, it seems odd to say that the book this reminded me of the most was Shaun Tan’s The Arrival. Yet both books take realistic pictures and use their sepia-toned worlds to inform our own. That said, the book that would probably pair better in terms of subject matter would have to be the Julie Cummins title Women Daredevils: Thrills Chills and Frills (in which Annie does indeed make an appearance). I’ve always loved Van Allsburg’s magical realism fantasies, but this new venture into reality itself is so appealing that I can only hope that he continues in this vein for some time. A book that honors its subject and grants her posthumous dignity. Annie Edson Taylor was an American schoolteacher who, on her 63rd birthday, October 24, 1901, became the first person to survive a trip over Niagara Falls in a barrel. Her motives were financial but she never made much money from her adventure.

She was a elderly woman in her 60s who taught at a Charm School in Bay City MI. Her clients had dried up and she had no retirement, so she was looking for a way to make some money. Eventually, she decided on going over the Falls in a barrel to make money. Isn't that strange. She was an innovative woman at that. She designed and made her own barrel and found a publicist to drum up curiosity. She did tell the world she was in her 40s so when people actually saw her, they didn't believe it was her that went over. It has been one hundred years, and what would you think of this world? What would you make of Kardashians and sexting and the soft scatter of our lives? NATURAL SETTINGS — The Niagara Falls; magnificent waterfalls which attract many tourists. In English words don’t carry gender, but many things do carry symbolic gender. Waterfalls are generally gendered feminine. The illustrations below may partly explain why; the fall of water is reminiscent of a young woman’s cascading hair. Ida Rentoul Outhwaite The Waterfall Fairy The Enchanted Forest 1921 Ida Rentoul Outhwaite 1888 – 1960 The Waterfall Fairy coloured

It’s interesting to note what Van Allsburg left out. What he did not include: That a cat was sent down in a barrel a few days previously, and survived. Kids like cats, cats do well in picture books; why would Chris Van Allsburg leave this interesting detail out?