Thunder Rose
Jerdine Nolen, Kadir NelsonBooks.org participates in affiliate programs including Bookshop.org and the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. We may earn a commission from qualifying purchases made through links on this page, at no additional cost to you.
Overview
Thunder Rose vows to grow up to be more than just big and strong, thank you very kindly—and boy, does she ever! But when a whirling storm on a riotous rampage threatens, has Rose finally met her match?
Unusual from the day she is born, Thunder Rose performs all sorts of amazing feats, including building fences, taming a stampeding herd of steers, capturing a gang of rustlers, and turning aside a tornado.
Synopsis
A Coretta Scott King Honor-winning book, now in paperback
Publishers Weekly
Coming into the world one stormy night, Thunder Rose, heroine of this original tall tale, is the first child "born free and easy" to her African-American parents, who (an author's note implies) have transplanted themselves from slavery in the South to settle the frontiers of the Old West. Rose demonstrates extraordinary talents even as a newborn: "She took hold of that lightning, rolled it into a ball, and set it above her shoulder, while the thunder echoed out over the other." She turns out to have an aptitude for bending wire and scrap metal; among other developments in this episodic narrative, Rose constructs a thunderbolt from scrap iron and invents barbed wire. Nolen's (Big Jabe, also illustrated by Nelson) kicky regional dialect is the high point here ("Right outside of Caldwell, that irascible, full-of-outrage-and-ire outlaw Jesse Baines and his gang of desperadoes tried to rustle that herd away from Rose.... [She] lassoed those hot-tempered hooligans up good and tight"). Unfortunately, her packed plot slows the rhythms of her fun writing style. Even for the tall tale genre, there is too much going on, and a message at the end, about the thunder in Rose's heart and what happens when she calls forth the music that resides there, makes for a rambling denouement. Throughout, Nelson's oil, watercolor and pencil compositions endow Rose's larger-than-life feats with verve. Notes of humor, warmth and rustic detail vie for attention in his bright-blue, big-sky scenes. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Exuberant . . . A terrific read-aloud."—Booklist"A wonderful tale of joy and love, as robust and vivid as the wide West . . . A splendid, colorful, and most welcome addition to the tall-tale genre."—School Library JournalPublishers Weekly
Coming into the world one stormy night, Thunder Rose, heroine of this original tall tale, is the first child "born free and easy" to her African-American parents, who (an author's note implies) have transplanted themselves from slavery in the South to settle the frontiers of the Old West. Rose demonstrates extraordinary talents even as a newborn: "She took hold of that lightning, rolled it into a ball, and set it above her shoulder, while the thunder echoed out over the other." She turns out to have an aptitude for bending wire and scrap metal; among other developments in this episodic narrative, Rose constructs a thunderbolt from scrap iron and invents barbed wire. Nolen's (Big Jabe, also illustrated by Nelson) kicky regional dialect is the high point here ("Right outside of Caldwell, that irascible, full-of-outrage-and-ire outlaw Jesse Baines and his gang of desperadoes tried to rustle that herd away from Rose.... [She] lassoed those hot-tempered hooligans up good and tight"). Unfortunately, her packed plot slows the rhythms of her fun writing style. Even for the tall tale genre, there is too much going on, and a message at the end, about the thunder in Rose's heart and what happens when she calls forth the music that resides there, makes for a rambling denouement. Throughout, Nelson's oil, watercolor and pencil compositions endow Rose's larger-than-life feats with verve. Notes of humor, warmth and rustic detail vie for attention in his bright-blue, big-sky scenes. Ages 5-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
This original tale of a larger-than-life cowgirl heroine was constructed by the author to create a black folk tale of the Old West not "out of sorrow" as some from the past, but "out of love and joy." Born on a night of thunder and lightning, Thunder Rose soon shows that she can perform amazing feats of strength, bending metal to make her own thunderbolt, herding cattle, taming a gang of desperadoes. When drought threatens and she is challenged by a storm, she uses her power of song to "touch the heart of the clouds." Told with humor and a Western twang, Thunder Rose's story puts her up with Paul Bunyan and other legendary heroes. Nelson depicts her as a sassy, energetic youngster in oil, watercolor and pencil naturalistic illustrations, often seen from ground level to add stature to her adventures. Both people and cows are treated with respect; the "special effects" of the twister add real excitement. Perhaps we can expect further adventures in the future from this newly created folk heroine with genuine eye appeal. 2003, Silver Whistle/Harcourt, Ages 5 to 8.— Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz