Thunder Rose

To start off, this story did disappoint me to some degree. Reading the title and taking a quick look through the pictures leads you to believe this is going to be a tall tale set in the style of Paul Bunion and other classic literature of oral tradition. However, the book seems to be lacking a great deal. We follow the main character, Rose, from birth where we immediately learn that she is a "larger than life" character with supernatural qualities. As she grows, we would expect her to have greater powers and accomplish more amazing feats, but quite the opposite. Rose goes from harnessing thunder and lightning to... singing a cow to sleep? That doesn't seem like the making of a tall tale. Besides that, the author and illustrator didn't seem to come together very well in creating the final product. As I read about thunder rose wrestling up a gang of desperados and dropping them off at the jail, I look at the complimenting page and see Rose sitting idly by her longhorn steer. In all, I was disappointed by the inconsistencies in the book, and I only wish I knew why this book won the Coretta Scott King Award.

I LOVE both this story and the illustrations. Reads like an old western fable, like Pecos Bill or Paul Bunyan. There’s a lot of story fit onto each page, so it could be intimating to new or unsure readers, but I would buy this for the pictures alone. I gift this to every child I possibly can, and I worked in the Children’s section of a popular bookstore and have talked several parents into buying this book and never heard complaints. The story is charming and lovely and the illustrations are so great! Don’t hesitate to add this to a young person’s (or your own!) library.

The class enjoyed reading the text. The children were laughing aloud at the action of the main character. The pictures were very rich and inviting to the eye.

I just finished reading this book to my boys (4.5 and 2.5 years old) and it was a lot of fun. I LOVED this story, personally. I think it was a bit old for their age group, only because of the length, but the topic was just fine. I loved seeing such a strong, beautiful little girl with such power and grace. I checked this book out from the library, but I plan to purchase it very soon.

Beautiful illustrations! The imagery in this book is top notch, and I love the premise!! I have biracial daughters and I love being able to show them strong characters that look like everyone in our family. That said, I’m giving this book four stars because it’s kind of hard to read. It’s supposed to be written in the style of a traditional tall tale, but there are so many descriptors and metaphors that it’s difficult to understand and difficult to read aloud. I love reading books aloud and getting really animated and into the narration, but even as an adult I kept stuttering and re-reading sentences. I would love to see this book get revised at some point in the future to be a little easier to digest, because it has a lot of wonderful elements, it just sounds like it needs to be edited with a little finer tooth. All of that said, I still highly recommend it. Thunder Rose is absolutely an admirable character. She’s hard-working, determined, creative, resourceful, and always incredibly polite and gracious.

This is a precious book. I introduced it during our folktale unit. The main character is a girl. It is a great opportunity to share a folktale with a darling dash of diversity. A really cute book with a nice message. It is now one of my students new favorite folktale characters.

This is a precious book. I introduced it during our folktale unit. The main character is a girl. It is a great opportunity to share a folktale with a darling dash of diversity. A really cute book with a nice message. It is now one of my students new favorite folktale characters.

My younger daughter, who is in kindergarten, brought home Thunder Rose (not to be confused with Bruce Springsteen's classic American ballad Thunder Road) by Jerdine Nolen (illustrated by Kadir Nelson) from her school library. It was published by Harcourt in 2003, and, according to the sticker on the front cover, was selected as a Coretta Scott King Award Honor book (for peace, brotherhood, and non-violent social change).

The story is of a bright, confident, powerful and non-traditional African-American girl growing up on a ranch. Born in a thunderstorm, she carries the spirit of lightening with her throughout her life.

In the spirit of the tall tale, Thunder Rose is bigger than life, with insatiable appetites (She nurses from a cow!), supernatural strength (She bends scrap wire into a lightening bolt.), and extraordinary athletic ability (She brings a herd of cattle to a halt by jumping on the lead steer's back and grabbing him by the horns.). She also stops bandits, and, in her piece de resistance, tames a thunderstorm at the end of the book.

Thunder Rose also has a gentle side, however, and is able to sing the heard of cattle to sleep with a lullaby and creates barbed wire to keep her younger sister entertained.

Her story is told in sophisticated language that bends and twists like the wire that Rose sculpts. The illustrations are lush and rich with color, and capture the mischief and pride of this remarkable character. The book makes an excellent read-aloud for bright children and open-minded parents.

Thunder Rose is simply amazing from birth...her bigger than life spirit and love for her parents speaks to the powerful force of family in the African American community. This tale was written to be classic folklore. Even though this is a book intended for children up to the third grade, I enjoyed it as an adult. I will certainly recommend this book to all of my friends with young children. We all need a little Thunder Rose. 5+ stars

Poetic language about a powerful girl who has a beautiful, powerful voice. A great antidote to sleeping or otherwise silent princesses.