Thunder Rose by Jerdine Nolen, Kadir Nelson (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

On a dark night of howling rain and booming thunder, Jackson and Millicent MacGruder welcome a new baby girl into their lives. Imagine their surprise when she sits up, thanks them for bringing her into the world, and informs them that she's quite partial to the name Rose.

So begins the story of Thunder Rose, who drinks her milk straight from the cow and prefers the company of her bull, Tater, to any kitten or puppy. Rose is capturing outlaws by the time she's a teenager, but she always has time to find joy in a song. Jerdine Nolen and Kadir Nelson have created a tall tale—and a powerful new African American heroine—to delight readers of all ages.

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.

Chicago Tribune

"Kadir Nelson's illustrations...are terrific. Rose is just the right combination of tough little girl and superhero."

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz - 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.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-Thunder Rose is an African-American child born on a stormy night abuzz with booming thunder, flashing lightning, and hailing rain. Her parents are awestruck by her remarkable gifts, which include forming a ball out of lightning, speaking in full sentences minutes after her birth, and snoring through a booming, thunderous rumble. It is clear that Rose is no ordinary child. She can lift a cow over her head and almost drink it dry, and as she grows, she does incredible metalwork with scraps of iron she finds around the ranch. She uses her handiwork to restrain cattle, round up would-be rustlers, and lasso and squeeze the rain out of the clouds. She fearlessly faces down a couple of tornadoes and calms them with her "song of thunder." Nolen and Nelson offer up a wonderful tale of joy and love, as robust and vivid as the wide West. The oil, watercolor, and pencil artwork is outstanding. A splendid, colorful, and most welcome addition to the tall-tale genre.-Andrea Tarr, Corona Public Library, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball-all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson's big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge-a pair of rampaging twisters-not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, "that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull's-eye that was set at the center of her heart." Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author's note) (Picture book. 7-9)

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