THUNDER AND THE NOISE STORMS

There is noise, and there are noise storms. Thunder knows the difference.

On the bus and at school, the racket makes this Indigenous grade schooler grumpy. Recess is the worst. Thunder only wants to be alone. He “hid[es] in the play structure, covering [his] ears.” His grandfather understands. As a child, Mosom had felt this way once. Mosom explains to Thunder how “his father taught him a special word to help with the noise storms”: mamaskasitawew, or “to listen with wonder.” Thunder tries to listen for the quiet things, but when he doesn’t hear anything but the squeaky swingset, he is frustrated. “Thunder, Thunder, listen with wonder,” Mosom says. Thunder closes his eyes and concentrates, finally hearing the breeze. “The windsong made me happy,” he tells readers. He hears leaves rustling, squirrels chattering, birds flapping their wings, and sweetgrass whispering. Thunder hears the sound of his heart: “Badoom, badoom, badoom.” Thanks to Mosom’s lesson in mamaskasitawew, Thunder knows that now whenever he feels overwhelmed, “I could still listen to my heart.” Bold art by Anishinaabe illustrator Pawis-Steckley in Woodland style gives weight to Thunder’s feelings and the importance of the Cree authors’ story. It’s never stated, but readers may well recognize in Thunder’s noise sensitivity a child on the spectrum. Both authors are educators as well, and Jeffrey Ansloos is also a psychologist.

Thunder’s story may help many young readers with their own noise storms.