Calliope Kate and the Voice of the River

In the American folk tradition of Paul Bunyan and Sal Fink, a wild new tall tale character is born on the Mississippi River! When her family’s flatboat adventures downriver to New Orleans, Kate’s Ma fails to tame her to lady-like piano playing, with Kate instead using the earsplitting din of a steamboat calliope to save the city from a hurricane. Illustrations feature hand carved Czech marionettes created by the author.

The book is tied closely to geography and to a unique time in American history, and includes fascinating facts pages, as well as simple sheet music for a song often heard on New Orleans’ steamboat calliopes.

The story was inspired by the raucous cacophony of the steamboat Natchez steam calliope, blasting daily across the river to the author’s studio in New Orleans.

Pelican Publishing, 5.9.2022