Abstract
Reviewed by: Thundercluck! by Paul Tillery Kate Quealy-Gainer Tillery, Paul, IV Thundercluck!; illus. by Paul Tillery IV and Meg Wittwer. Roaring Brook, 2018 [240p] ISBN 978-1-250-15528-3 $14.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 3-5 When Thor's lightning strikes a chicken egg, a hero is hatched. A fluffy downed chick cracks out of his shell, wearing a horned helmet and shooting lightning out of his beak, and he immediately charms the young Valkyrie Brunhilde, who dubs him Thundercluck. She cares for him until the oracle reveals that former chef to the gods Gorman Bones, who was cast out after trying to fry one of Thor's favorite chickens, is returning to serve up Thundercluck as his dish of revenge. Thor decrees that Thundercluck be sent to Midgard for his safety, but Brunhilde instead grabs Thundercluck and sets off to the mortal world with a book of poems as her guide to destroy Bones once and for all. This absurd premise delivers on its goofy humor, most of it coming from the amusing contrast between the seriousness of the storytelling and the ridiculousness of the plot. Bones, too, is comical in his villainy, and his man-pig minions make for a few finely executed puns. Brunhilde's guiding poems vary in type from limerick to haiku, while goofy digital spot art boosts the approachability. Informative explanations of Norse lore and setting might help make this a foundation, albeit a strange one, for those readers not yet ready for Percy Jackson. KQG [End Page 142] Copyright © 2018 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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