HOW THUNDER AND LIGHTING CAME TO BE

An inspired story and visual pleasure, from a new author and a well-known collagist. Crafted from a number of sources, Harrell provides an author's note to place the tale, and follows with a matter-of-factly goofy story of two foolish birds commissioned by the sun god to warn his ``chosen people'' of bad weather. The birds' well-intended, clumsy efforts to carry out their mission are comedic: running from village to village doesn't work, nor does hollering down from the clouds (why these birds can fly one minute and not fly the next is a little confusing). A clever twist brings the proper results, although the forgiving and loving bird dolts, endearing in the extreme, are still trying to think of a way to warn the Choctaw to this day. Roth's pages are bright, good-humored, and wildly inventive; lightning is rendered in broken and sprinkled snatches of white darting across the page. Her ability to compose canny gestures and poses—the leaning close for a whisper, a crazy-legged pursuit of tumbling eggs—is almost eerie and always effective. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)