LIGHTNING BUG THUNDER

by Katie Burke ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 1998

Inspired by a firefly caught in a jar, a gleesome threesome of girls performs a nocturnal ""thundering"" rain dance in this flight of fancy. Molly Elizabeth, Zoey Ray, and Katherine Claire get through a summer scorcher of a day, awaiting the night when the firefly will glow. But something is missing. In stumbling rhyme, Zoey uncovers the problem: ""Molly, you see what I see?/That lightning bug there don't know what thunder be!"" With whoops and hollers and plenty of stomping of feet, the three kick up a ruckus and create the thunder for the bug, whose glow lights up the entire street. This combination opens the heavens for a good soaking rain; Burke's last lines mention that whenever that town gets too hot and dry, the girls obligingly make more thunder and lightning, and rain. The sandy, still illustrations take on more color and motion as night falls, the romp begins, and the rainclouds move in. Burke's first book captures the ingenuity of children, but the story is little more than a dance whose magic is never really unleashed.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1998

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Firefly

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1998

Categories: CHILDREN'S