Mmmm. I'm hungry now. Thunder cake looks amazing.
Why are we so afraid of thunder as children? It's loud noises in general - it just disturbs the senses, confuses, disorients... Polacco writes a brief prologue explaining her motivation for this story.
Polacco uses this book as a means to explain how her Babushka (grandmother) helped her to overcome her own childhood fears of the noisy and terrifying midwestern thunder storms. It is a story that portrays a strong bond between the young girl and her grandmother. The warmth of the story is felt by the reader, and a smile slowly grows on your face as the story progresses. We learn that sometimes distraction and companionship can diminish our fears. It's even better when we get yummy cake during all of it.
Polacco uses wonderful pencil drawings with watercolors in earthy tones paired with details of traditional Russian influence to recreate the farm in Michigan where her grandparents lived. The illustrations show the storm getting closer and closer, and throughout the text the sounds of thunder get louder and longer. Kabooom, boooooom ba-babooooooooom, crackle crackle boooooom ka-boooooom... Ha! That would be fun to read aloud to a room full of kindergartners!
The pair of characters travel all around the farm to collect all of the ingredients for the cake, all the time the reader feels the strength and comfort that is provided by Babushka. And, by the time the cake is finished baking the fear of the thunder has lifted, there was nothing to be afraid of anyway!
At the end we even get Babushka's recipe for thunder cake, yummy, what a tasty treat during a thunder storm!
No comments:
Post a Comment