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

by Laura Purdie Salas, Elly MacKay (Illustrator)

Overview

Explore the life cycle of a thunderstorm in this informative and engaging picture book.

Morning's calm. Outside is still. A blue-forever day until . . .

The real beginning of a thunderstorm happens long before the first raindrop falls.

No rain yet. It's just a threat-
a rising cloud, a towering plume, then . . .

Follow along as the weather changes, from a blue-sky day to a brewing storm, from a brewing storm to a dazzling downpour, and from a dazzling downpour to the breathtaking moment when the sky emits a-

ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!


Laura Purdie Salas's dynamic text and Elly MacKay's vibrant art offer the perfect introduction to the science of weather and the forces that work together to create a storm. The next time nature puts on a dramatic thunder and lightning show, readers will be ready to find a cozy spot near a window and watch the storm unfold.

An author's note delves deeper into the science of thunderstorms.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547602254
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	02/28/2023
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	220,412
Product dimensions:	9.40(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.35(d)
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Laura Purdie Salas has written more than 130 books, including Lion of the Sky, Clover Kitty Goes to Kittygarten, and Snowman-Cold=Puddle. Her books have earned the Minnesota Book Award, NCTE Notables, starred reviews, and more. Laura grew up in Florida, but she has lived in Minnesota all her adult life. She loves thunderstorms, snowstorms, and brainstorms.

laurasalas.com

Elly MacKay is an award winning picture book maker living in Owen Sound, Ontario, Canada with her family. She is the author and illustrator of several books such as Butterfly Park, Red Sky at Night and If You Hold a Seed. Elly taught both in schools and as an educator at galleries before pursuing a career in picture books. When not creating in the studio, Elly loves visiting schools and libraries to share her love of books, writing and art with young readers and makers.

theaterclouds.com

Editorial Reviews

The fluid, rhyming text offers some basic facts about thunderstorms; the well-researched back matter presents a more detailed account . . . McKay's illustrations beautifully capture both the changing weather phenomena and the children's reactions. An informative read-aloud choice for home or classroom.” —Booklist, starred review

"Science collides with poetry in Zap! Clap! Boom!: The Story of a Thunderstorm, in which Laura Purdie Salas's pit-a-pat rhymes match the tempo of a rain shower, and Elly MacKay's art rivals the drama of a real atmospheric disturbance." - Shelf Awareness

“With eye-catching art and lines that roll off the tongue, this book would be well-suited to raucous but stealthily informative science-based story hour.” —BCCB

“MacKay's intricate layered-paper illustrations capture the way the storm touches every part of the island . . . Salas's onomatopoeic verse conveys both the ferocity of a thunderstorm and the wonder it can inspire; it begs to be read aloud.” —The Horn Book

“The book is a perfect read-aloud . . . A lovely, vocabulary-stretching, story-hour gift for a cozy day.” —School Library Journal

“The buildup and arrival of a wild thunderstorm offers both eye-widening drama and lessons in atmospheric phenomena . . . A crashing success.” —Kirkus Reviews

“A handsome, original book for reading aloud each spring.” —Booklist on SNOWMAN - COLD = PUDDLE

“[A] contemplative and thought-provoking ode to the forms water takes and the functions it serves, both practical and whimsical.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review, on WATER CAN BE . . .

“Richly rewarding and clever: a visually arresting, inventive treatment of a popular subject.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review, on LION OF THE SKY

From the Publisher

12/01/2022

Gr 2–4—Watching a thunderstorm roll into town holds a certain frisson of excitement. There's an edge of danger, measured against the joy of the pitter-patter on hot ground. Salas captures the anticipation and joy in a storm, contrasting the exuberance of children dancing in the rain against the darkest, scariest parts of the thunder. MacKay's dreamy illustrations, mostly in effective spreads, allow readers to fall into the world of this weather. The book is a perfect read-aloud; smart word choices make short rhymes ebb and flow with the storm: "Wind blows fiercely, howls and shrieks. The world groans slowly, shivers, creaks." The "zap" and "clap" of it all will hold the attention of very young children, but the delicious adjectives will contribute to everyone's vocabulary. Don't miss the thunder science section at the end—a gift. Salas writes with whimsy even when detailing scientific reactions. VERDICT A lovely, vocabulary-stretching, story-hour gift for a cozy day.—Cat McCarrey

School Library Journal

2022-11-16
The buildup and arrival of a wild thunderstorm offers both eye-widening drama and lessons in atmospheric phenomena.

Three gracefully posed children, the eldest slightly darker-skinned than the younger pair, and a trio of goats cavort over island hills until a squall rises in the distance and sweeps violently in before they then venture outside again to enjoy a world made “dazzling, / sparkling, / fresher.” Blending paper collage and digital paint, MacKay artfully captures the changing light on steep meadows as a “blue-forever day” gradually darkens under heavy, windswept clouds that “hover over, / tower, / loom, / then… // ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!” before at last melting away to leave a sunny, washed world. For the story behind the storm, Salas switches from free verse to prose in the backmatter to explain in specific detail how cumulus clouds, various kinds of lightning, and thunder are produced before closing with leads to useful weather-related sites, books, and even time-lapse videos on the web. Arthur Geisert’s Thunderstorm (2013) portrays a more massive tempest as a rural catastrophe; here, the swirling wind, torrential rain, and crashes of lightning are seen as a safely exciting but brief interlude in an otherwise serene setting. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A crashing success. (selected sources) (Informational picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews