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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

‘Thunder Boy Jr.’ an entertaining read for young and old

“Thunder Boy Jr.,” Sherman Alexie’s first picture book for young children, is getting all kinds of love from literary critics.

For instance, Ron Charles Jr., writing in the Washington Post, says the book is “full of spirited fun, but it also has been designed to help correct an ongoing problem: the lack of brown-skinned kids in literature.”

In the New York Times, Mihn C. Le raves, dropping adjectives such as “soaring,” “joyful,” and “modern and timeless.” Publishers Weekly’s starred review says “Thunder Boy’s energy is irresistible, as is this expansive portrait of a Native American family.”

It’s well and good to listen to adult book critics about such things, but it occurred to me that the best judges of a book for children might just be actual children.

“Thunder Boy Jr.” is geared for children ages 3 to 6. So I assembled a panel of kids in that age group for an afternoon story time. Our group included my own son, Julian, 6; Henry, 6, and Louise, 4, the children of novelist Sharma Shields; Delia, 6, and Clyde, 3, children of poet Ellen Welcker; and Eliza, 6, the daughter of The Spokesman-Review’s deputy features editor Kimberly Lusk.

We had snacks. There was wrestling and some sort of animal game that involved a lot of loud roaring. Then the kids settled down to hear a story about a little boy with an unusual name that he shares with his father. The boy says he really loves his dad, but he doesn’t want to share a name. Then his dad comes up with the perfect solution.

The children listened intently. They laughed. And for a bunch of elementary and preschool kids, they sat relatively still.

The verdict: They really liked “Thunder Boy Jr.”

“It was awesome!” said Henry. “It was funny!” said Julian. And both of them, being 6-year-old boys, loved the line where Thunder Boy Jr. says his nickname, “Little Thunder,” sounds like a fart or a burp.

Delia said she liked the part where his dad gave the boy a new nickname. Her little brother Clyde liked that part, too.

As for the assembled moms, the story also struck a chord. And everyone loved the book’s colorful illustrations by Yuyi Morales.

“He’s speaking directly into the hearts of children,” Welcker said.

Shields, who is a “junior” of sorts – she and her mother share a name – said, “I loved that he had this togetherness with his dad, but he wants to be his own person.”