Benjamin's Thunderstorm

by Melanie Florence, Hawlii Pichette (Illustrator)

A thunderstorm evokes a boy’s family traditions, in this rainy-day story from award-winning author Melanie Florence. Benjamin loves the rain. He loves splashing through puddles in his bright yellow rain boots and watching the colors of a rainbow in the water as they ripple around his feet. But most of all, Benjamin loves thunder. To him, thunder — piyêsiwak — sounds like his grandfather’s drum. It calls to him, like the songs his grandfather plays while his father and other powwow dancers spin and step in time to the drumbeat. As Benjamin hears the thunder rumble overhead, he imagines himself as a powwow dancer. He spins, he taps his feet and he lifts his knees. Faster and faster he twirls, delighted by and filled with the rhythm of piyêsiwak. This artfully written story from award-winning author Melanie Florence celebrates both the universal joys of playing in the rain and the connections to family traditions that center and ground us. Elements of Cree powwow culture and Cree words for colors and weather are interwoven into the story, with a pronunciation guide in the back matter. The vibrant and eye-catching art by Hawlii Pichette, inspired by the scenery of northern Ontario, adds drama to the pages. This inviting picture book makes a perfect read-aloud for a rainy day, as well as an excellent introduction to Cree cultural traditions, local communities and experiencing nature firsthand.

Genres: Picture Books, Nature, Canada, Indigenous, Childrens, Storytime, Plays

32 pages, Hardcover

Published September 5, 2023

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Adorable book. Not my favorite style of illustrations, but they are quite good. I also appreciated the pronunciation guide and translations of the Cree used in the book.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty, indigenous-style illustrations and mostly-English text tells the story of Benjamin playing and dancing in a thunderstorm. The interspersed Cree words are easily understood in context, and even the depiction of a Cree boy with a long braid is an important and rarely shown image.

As someone who also loves thunder, like Benjamin, I also love the celebration of such a truly awesome natural occurrence. Benjamin BOOMS like the thunder and splashes in rainbow puddles without any of the fear that we often see in children. Decreasing fear of anything is always a positive thing (in my opinion).

There is also a pronunciation guide at the end of the book, which is super helpful - I would never want to mispronounce these words that have for so long been suppressed by Canadian settlers like myself.

[Paul Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Benjamin loves thunder." This is the opening sentence to the children's book, Benjamin's Thunderstorm by Melanie Florence. It is a story of a young Cree child who loves thunder, the sound of which reminds him of his grandfather. Like many young boys and girls, Benjamin enjoys stomping in puddles and watching "the colours ripple on the water around his feet." Clearly, the sound of thunder reminds him of family and a proud culture. The author, Melanie Florence, adds Cree words in the telling of Benjamin's story. She includes a pronunciation guide of certain Cree words at the end of the book which is most helpful. One word that appropriately stands out is piyêsiwak, the Cree word for thunder or it thunders. This book is an inviting introduction to the Cree culture and language. The digital drawings by Hawlii Pichette are equally inviting. I have read a few comments by reviewers (online) with some noticeably less enthusiastic praise for the illustrations. I feel quite differently. While I am no expert on aboriginal and Indigenous art, the drawings with vivid colours and thick outlines remind me of some of the works by the great artist, Norval Morrisseau. The illustrations certainly add to the reading experience. Credit to Hawlii Pichette. If anyone is looking for an accessible introduction to Cree culture, I would suggest this book. It's warm, thoughtful and, let's face it, what child doesn't love stomping their feet in puddle? I highly recommend Benjamin's Thunderstorm by Melanie Florence.

[Theediscerning · Rating 3 out of 5]

A young lad finds a surprising (to us, perhaps, at least) result from watching a thunderstorm boil up in front of his house – a connection to his First Nations ancestry and Cree character. The rumbling thunder is the ceremonial kind of drum his father uses, the whole thing is down to the thunderbirds he knows from his culture, and so he finds a love of dancing in the oncoming rain – at least until his mother quite mundanely orders him indoors. Meanwhile we, as non-Cree, see a lack of capital letters in their written text, and that they only have six colours in their rainbow. This is a nice book to see and perhaps to have, as a welcome window to a different community, but it will probably remain limited to the Cree and similar neighbouring cultures for a readership. That said, you could probably extrapolate from this lad proudly interacting with his cultural inheritance and get a lesson out of how we might all do that as we cavort in the rainy outdoors. Three and a half stars, then.

[Amanda Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very basic story of a boy playing in the rain during a thunderstorm. The real purpose of the story seems to be to introduce readers to the Cree language. It does a good job of that but the pronunciation guide is at the end of the story. It would help to have that in the story—especially if a teacher or parent wants to use this as a read aloud.

[Rebecca Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly enjoyed this read. It was fascinating to see the author draw a connection between the Native American words and Benjamin's actions.

Great way to introduce a different culture, and new words to younger readers. Absolutely a fantastic book!

[Aly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre illustré avec de belles couleurs vives pour parler d'un petit garçon autochtone qui aime la pluie et le tonnerre car ça lui rappelle le son du tambour de son grand-père.

Ce qui est particulièrement intéressant c'est qu'à la fin du bouquin, il y a la prononciation des mots en Cri.

[Dannaca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was our final story for Weather story time. The kids and I enjoyed it a lot! I had to use the cheat sheet in the back of the book to pronounce the Cree words, but with some practice, I think I did pretty well. I did think the story ended a bit abruptly, but overall it was a really good one!

[Andréa]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 stars for this delightful book about a boy who loves thunderstorms

I read a digital advanced reader's copy courtesy of the publisher