ALA Booklist (Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 CST 2003)

An exuberant tall tale with an irresistible African American heroine. The night Thunder Rose was born to her parents, the thunder gave her her name, and she rolled the lightning into a ball and put it on her shoulder. By the next day, she was lifting a whole cow for a drink of milk. At two, she wove a pile of scrap iron into a thunderbolt; at twelve, she invented barbed wire, stopped a stampede, and captured a band of desperadoes. Thunder Rose even turns away a tornado with her song and the depth of her fortunate feeling. The watercolor, oil, and pencil illustrations capture the Wild West vistas, the textures of grass and homespun cloth, and the character's personalities, even that of Tater, Rose's trusty steer. Best of all, however, is Rose herself, the color of polished mahogany, with enough sass and savvy to overcome any obstacle. A terrific read-aloud.

Horn Book

This fast-paced tall tale depicts the feats of the chocolate-colored heroine, Thunder Rose. Like her male counterparts, Paul Bunyan and John Henry, Rose is born strong and, from the beginning, does big things: heads off a stampede, calms windstorms, and turns a tornado into a gentle rain. Dynamic, oversize illustrations capture the energy of Rose's rollicking adventures.

Kirkus Reviews

Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball—all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson's big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge—a pair of rampaging twisters—not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, "that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull's-eye that was set at the center of her heart." Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author's note) (Picture book. 7-9)

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3-Thunder Rose is an African-American child born on a stormy night abuzz with booming thunder, flashing lightning, and hailing rain. Her parents are awestruck by her remarkable gifts, which include forming a ball out of lightning, speaking in full sentences minutes after her birth, and snoring through a booming, thunderous rumble. It is clear that Rose is no ordinary child. She can lift a cow over her head and almost drink it dry, and as she grows, she does incredible metalwork with scraps of iron she finds around the ranch. She uses her handiwork to restrain cattle, round up would-be rustlers, and lasso and squeeze the rain out of the clouds. She fearlessly faces down a couple of tornadoes and calms them with her "song of thunder." Nolen and Nelson offer up a wonderful tale of joy and love, as robust and vivid as the wide West. The oil, watercolor, and pencil artwork is outstanding. A splendid, colorful, and most welcome addition to the tall-tale genre.-Andrea Tarr, Corona Public Library, CA Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.