STORM

An evocative mood-piece, re-creating the sensory impressions of a summer storm in rolling heartland America. As distant lightning moves closer, two children dance on a rise above their house, listening to the thunder (publisher—and readers everywhere—please note: this is NOT a good idea); when the wind brings the rain, their mother beckons them in to admire it through the window, while cows and robins weather the downpour as best they can. The author's taut, energetic text (``The world is wet,/ and wild with the wind/ that...bends the trees,/ whips the telephone lines/ until they snap and sing'') echoes the storm's rise and fall; Hays's full-bleed paintings beautifully capture the storm's turbulence, the dramatic changes in light—the junco blue-grays and deep purples and their triumphant invasion by the golden rays of the sun as the storm moves on. Both the sun and a red barn move in surprising ways here; still, an effective contribution to the genre. (Picture book. 3-7)