Bam! 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.
At first, three kids haven't a care as they kick a ball down a hill: "Sunny day sits warm and dry./ No wind,/ no rain,/ no stormy sky." (Sharp-eyed readers will note a distinct haziness at the kids' backs.) The rhymes proceed, and the trio play until they notice the clouds: "Starting low,/ they grow/ and grow--/ white above,/ now gray below." Before long it's "ZAP! CLAP! BOOM!" The kids make a run for it, but too late! "Swollen clouds begin to drain,/ spilling/ splashing,/ chilling/ rain." They head for shelter--but not before stomping a puddle or two.
As the weather intensifies, so do the book's language and art. Salas (Snowman - Cold = Puddle: Spring Equations) imbues the stormy scene with a Halloweeny menace: "Wind blows fiercely,/ howls/ and shrieks./ The world/ groans slowly,/ shivers,/ creaks"; MacKay (In the Clouds) uses bruise-like purples and blues to capture nature at its fiercest. MacKay, working in layered paper (with rain and lightning courtesy of Procreate), builds texturally enticing tableaux--some wordless, some animal-decked--that readers will want to reach out and touch... except, perhaps, when the storm is meanest. Then readers may wish they could be with the three kids enjoying the tempest from the safety of home. --Nell Beram, freelance writer and YA author