Dinosaur Thunder

PreS-Gr 1–Two brothers wait out a storm. Brannon, the younger one, is afraid of thunder, and with each boom, finds a new place to hide. The grown-ups try to reassure him with well-known salves–the noise is that of “a big cat purring,” “angels bowling in heaven,” and “clouds bumping together.” But Brannon knows about all of those things: a big cat can scratch, bowling pins can fall through the sky, and if clouds bump into one another, maybe one could bump into him. Big brother Chad has the answer; the noise of thunder is “dinosaurs stomping around,” and Brannon knows everything about dinosaurs–and nothing about them is scary. He stomps, roars, and rages until a truly frightening boom startles both brothers into Mama’s arms. Bauer’s rhythmic and simple narrative tells a story to which readers will relate. Chodos-Irvine works her magic with old-fashioned print techniques and rich colors. No new ground is covered here, but the book is lovely for one-on-one sharing nonetheless.–Lisa Egly Lehmuller, St. Patrick’s Catholic School, Charlotte, NC