Thunder Cake is a heart warming story about Patrica Polacco's Babushka, who helps her overcome her fear of thunderstorms. She achieves this by having Patricia go to different places across the farm to collect ingredients for her famous Thunder Cake, which can only be made during a thunderstorm. Babushka must have tomatoes, strawberries, milk, and eggs which all call for Patricia to be brave and gather these things, all while working against the clock before the storm arrives. Just as all grandmothers, Babushka instills confidence in her granddaughter by proving she is quite brave after all. In the classroom, you could use this book to introduce your class to weather maps. By bringing in different maps from different parts of the world, you can teach students what different symbols mean and encourage them to inquire about the weather in your area, in our country, and around the world. This book is leveled in the AR system at a 3.5.

This is a great book to read to 4th graders! My 4th grade class loves this book and it is a great way for them to learn about comprehension. Even though the text didn't specifically say why the little girl became brave, the students were able to acquire that she got distracted into baking a cake and learned that there is nothing to be afraid of thunder. The students loved this book and loved when I included an anchor chart of what the little girl was originally afraid of vs. what she no longer feared and how brave she became. Plus, it comes with a delicious recipe for cake. 

This is an amazing book! A little girl visits her grandmother during the summer in Michigan. Michigan has summer storms and the little girl is terrified of the thunder. The grandmother tells the little that they are going to make a Thunder Cake. In order to make the cake, they have to pay close attention to the storm. When they see lighting, they have to count real slow and stop counting when they hear the thunder. The number counted tells how many miles away the storm is. The grandmother tells her that they need to know how far away the storm is in order to make the cake before it gets to them. The grandmother has a clever way of helping her grand-daughter over come her fears of the thunder. I would use this book for grades 2nd-4th. I would use this book for vocabulary and have students determine the main idea and key supporting details within this text.

Thunder cake  by Polacco Patricia
A grandmother helps her granddaughter get over her fear of thunder.
I remember being terrified of thunder and lightening also so thought this would be a good book to listen to.
She had the cure-make a thunder cake. Good idea to get the child mind off of the thunder. Recipe included.
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).