The Storm

Children's Literature - Victoria E. Crenson

Jonathan hates the way his classmates look at him-the way they don't really see him, but only his wheelchair. Why does he always have to be singled out as the one who needs help? When a tornado slices a path of destruction through his family's farm, Jonathan's quick action saves his father's prize horses and affirms the boy's faith in himself. Descriptions of the forming tornado, a "narrow tongue just licking over the surface of the ground" and eerie watercolors with splashes and swirls of deep blues and purples combine to create an authentic storm experience.

Stephanie Zvirin

Jonathan is angered by his classmates' assumption that because his mobility is limited by his wheelchair, he's afraid of storms. What he's actually scared of are cars--like the one that hit him while he rode his bike--and being singled out because of his "condition." This tense drama about a disabled child caught alone in the path of a tornado shows that it takes much more than the ability to run and hide to be a survivor. Harshman delivers more plot and action than is usual in picture books, seamlessly injecting a sense of how Jonathan handles everyday life. But the tale is not simply an exciting, positive portrayal of a disabled child. It's a knowing book that will speak to all children about self-image and hard-won success. Mohr's blotchy, impressionistic watercolors are a fine match for the text. With their yellows, greens, oranges, and golds, they somehow capture the electric heaviness of the air before a storm and the uncontrolled chaos of a tornado at its most frightening--frightening to Jonathan, to anyone.