ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
PRESCHOOL
Salas, Laura Purdie

Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm

40 pp. | Bloomsbury | February, 2023 | Trade ISBN 978-1-5476-0225-4 $18.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-5476-0226-1 $13.29
(2) PS Illustrated by Elly MacKay. "No wind, / No rain, / No stormy sky." Three children kick a bright red ball across the sloping island landscape. As they search for their ball amidst the bushes, though, they look up to see darkening clouds and the sound of "whispering leaves / in newborn / winds." A sudden storm strikes--"ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!"--sending the children running as lightning strikes in the distance. The downpour begins while they gleefully leap through the showers on the way to find shelter. Nearly as soon as it began, the storm moves away and the island shines anew, "washed by water pressure." MacKay's intricate layered-paper illustrations (with lightning and rain added digitally) capture the way the storm touches every part of the island: vegetation bowing from the wind and heavy rain, ocean waters churning, and the children's hair whipping through the electrified air. Salas's onomatopoeic verse conveys both the ferocity of a thunderstorm and the wonder it can inspire; it begs to be read aloud, if only for that satisfying "Zap! Clap! Boom!" refrain. Back matter provides the science behind the components of a thunderstorm and shares the author's childhood delight in afternoon storms.
Reviewer: Grace McKinney | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

RELATED 

PRESCHOOL

The Farmer and the Circus
by Frazee, Marla
PRESCHOOL

Bird House
by Gómez, Blanca
PRESCHOOL

The Crow and the Peacock
by Fernihough, Jo
PRESCHOOL

Something's Wrong!
by John, Jory
PRESCHOOL

Grandpa Across the Ocean
by Yum, Hyewon
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?