The Extraordinary Life of Anna Swan
Available in many bookstores and on-line. Also available for your e-reader from Kobo, Kindle store and Apple iTunes. International customers can find the book on Amazon (ANZO: thenile.com.au)
“Highly recommended.” CM magazine
Rocky Mountain Book Award 2016 Nominee
OLA’s Silver Birch Award reading list 2014-2015
Shortlisted for the 2013 Québec Federation of Writers award for Children’s and Young Adult Literature
Long-listed for the Children’s Literature Roundtables of Canada Information Book Award
Non-fiction for young people
On a balmy August morning in 1846, a child was born to Ann and Alexander Swan in the couple’s small wood cabin in Millbrook, Colchester County, Nova Scotia. This in itself was not odd, as home was where babies were most often born in the mid-19th century. What was surprising, however, was that Anna Swan weighed an amazing 6 kilograms (13 pounds) – almost twice the size of an average newborn.
Anna Swan grew to an astonishing size – nearly 2.5 metres (almost 8 feet) tall. She was billed as “The Nova Scotia Giant Girl” at P.T. Barnum’s American Museum in New York. But despite her unusual and challenging physical attributes, she rose above adversity and led a life of love, happiness and great accomplishments. This is her remarkable story.