Just a Thunderstorm

"Just a Thunderstorm" by Gina and Mercer Mayer is intersting in that it's told from the perspective of Little Critter's little sister, rather than Little Critter himself. The two are playing outside when it starts getting windy and their Mom says that a thunderstorm is coming. Sure enough, it starts raining soon, but Little Sister says that she's not scared because there's only a little thunder. A power outage is turned into a campout and for a while things are all right. But when it comes time to go to bed, Little Sister is scared because the thunder is really really loud. Little Sister tries all sorts of things to keep from being scared, but nothing helps. Then, her Dad tells her some of the good things about thunderstorms, but it still doesn't help. Ultimately, Little Sister comes to accept her fear of thunderstorms. All pages in this book are fully illustrated and the story is fairly short and easy to follow. Kids can read this themselves, or have it read to them. There are a couple of ongoing gags as well to add visual interest.

Last night in the midst of a loud and scary storm my two-yearold kept asking me for something. It took me a few minutes tounderstand that she was saying, "Thunder book." So we went to our bookshelves in search of this book, which has been a favorite of hers since it first came into our home. (She also loves her little critter CDrom of "Just Grandma and Me") Last night I read the book three times and my husband read it twice, before my daughter said, "Thunder all gone" and was ready to move on to another book. This is the first time I've seen her use a book to process/normalize fears, and I think it's wonderful. Even though this is supposed to be for the 4-8 year old, all young children are fascinated by storms. The book doesn't minimize the scary aspects, but does give examples of ways of dealing with fear (reading a book, listening to a tape, climbing into bed with a brother) and talks about the positive aspects of thunderstorms (the adventure, roasting marshmallows in the fireplace when the lights go out, splashing in puddles the next day, and the fact that storms help flowers grow). My only complaint is that the children do end up sleeping in their parents room which is something we're currently trying to discourage. But I'm very grateful for this book.