Thunderland
by Maggie Edkins Willis; illus. by the author
Primary    Viking    40 pp.
3/25    9780593693292    $18.99
e-book ed.  9780593693308    $10.99

“I don’t like the CRACKS and the CRASHES and the RUMBLES.” As a thunderstorm approaches, an anxious child hides in the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink. Dad, with a scruffy beard and a steady presence, coaxes the narrator to emerge into the “magic” of Thunderland. The child is hesitant but lured by the appeal of a cozy blanket fort with snacks and beloved stuffed animals. The protagonist (with Dad’s encouragement) names the storm Nancy, and the two holler back at her turbulent booms. Thunderland sparks an idea inside of the narrator: perhaps “we can be brave and afraid all at the same time.” The sketchy strokes of Willis’s digital wax-pencil illustrations depict dark, moody scenes illuminated by yellow flashes of lightning and the glow of a flashlight. The storm’s intensity is visually expressed through the jagged font of crack, the dramatic capital letters of crash, and the wavy-lettered word rumble. When the storm retreats, golden rays of sunlight dispatch the darkness and shower parent and child in light, conveying that as storms pass, so does fear. Willis’s relatable first-person narrative offers an endearing depiction of a parent guiding their child through fear to bravery and will be a story to revisit anytime the cracks, crashes, and rumbles roll in.

From the ">May/June 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.