Thunder Cake

This morning I was awoken by claps of thunder and strikes of lightening.  I am not a big fan of thunderstorms.  There is just something about them that scares me.  Do you have a child who does not like thunderstorms?   If so, you have to read Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco!

Thunder Cake is a touching story about the relationship between Patricia Polacco and her Grandmother.  Patricia loves spending her summer days at her Grandma's farm in Michigan, but she is scared of thunderstorms.  The sound of thunder scares her more than anything.  Patricia's Grandma helps her overcome her fear of thunder by distracting her during a storm.  They wander outside and gather the ingredients to bake a Thunder Cake!  When the cake is in the oven Patricia's Grandma shares how brave  Patricia is by recounting the events of the day.  As the storm rolls in, Grandma and child share a nice slice of Thunder Cake.

This story is just full of teaching ideas!  It is great for making text-to-self connections to help build schema (background knowledge).  If your child is afraid of thunderstorms, or has been in the past, they will easily make connections.  The story also explores the relationship between grandmother and grandchild.  Many kids will be able to make connections to the relationship Patricia has with her grandmother.  You and your child will also easily make predictions when you are reading this story.  You will want to know what happens next and will use your background knowledge and text clues to make educated guesses about the upcoming events.  At the end of the story you will determine importance by coming up with the big idea of the story.

A few questions to guide your conversation:

1.  Read to "Looks like a storm coming to me."  Ask your child:  What do you think a Thunder Cake might be?


2.  Read to "It's only thunder you're hearing."  Ask your child:  Why do you think the child is under the bed? Have you ever been afraid of a thunderstorm?    


3.  Read to "It scared me a lot, but I kept walking with Grandma" Ask your child:  Patricia has been scared to gather the eggs, collect the milk and walk to get the dry ingredients.  Do you think she will be able to gather the courage to finish making the cake?  What makes you think this?  How does her Grandma help her?


4.  Read to "We've got everything but the secret ingredient".  Ask your child: What do you predict might be the secret ingredient?  Make sure you share your prediction with your child!

5.  Read to "Only a very brave person could have done all them things!"  Ask your child: Patricia was very brave.  Even though she was scared of the thunder, she went outside and gathered supplies for the thunder cake.  Can you think of a time when you did something that was brave?   If your child has a hard time thinking of an example, you can share a time when you noticed he or she was brave.

6.  Read to "From that time on, I never feared the voice of thunder again."  Ask your child:  What do you think Patricia will do the next time their a thunderstorm?


7.  Ask your child:  What lesson is the story trying to teach us?

You cannot read Thunder Cake without actually making the cake - that is the BEST part of the story.  The recipe for Thunder Cake is in the back of most versions of the book.  However, I am sharing it below just to make sure you have it.

How to Make a Thunder Cake

Cream together, one at a time the following ingredients:
1 cup shortening
1 3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 eggs, separated ~Blend yolks in. Beat whites until they are stiff and then fold in)
1 cup cold water
1/3 cup pureed tomatoes

Sift together the following ingredients:
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1/2 cup dry cocoa
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt

Mix dry mixture into the creamy mixture.  Bake in two greased and floured 8 1/2 inch round pans at 350 degrees for 35 -40 minutes.  Frost with chocolate frosting and top with strawberries!

Yummy!  This is a really good cake!  I have made it several times and have never been disappointed.  Making the cake with your child is really a great extension to the story!  It helps your child make real world connections (text-to-world).

Let me know if you make the yummy cake!