Reading
Thunder Rose
by Jerdine Nolen
illustrated by Kadir Nelson
Overview
| Genre | Tall Tale |
| Vocabulary Strategy | Context Clues |
| Comprehension Skill | Cause and Effect |
| Comprehension Strategy | Monitor and Fix Up |
Vocabulary
| branded | marked by burning the skin with a hot iron |
| constructed | fitted together; built |
| daintily | with delicate beauty; freshly and prettily |
| devastation | waste; destruction |
| lullaby | song for singing to a child |
| pitch | thick, black, sticky substance made from tar or turpentine |
| resourceful | good at thinking of ways to do things |
| thieving | stealing |
| veins | blood vessels that carry blood to the heart from all parts of the body |
More Words to Know
| cantankerous | ready to make trouble; ill-natured |
| irascible | easily made angry |
| varmint | an objectionable animal or person |
Summary (English)
Rose was born in a thunderstorm. She could sit up and talk the day she was born. Rose had the power of thunder in her. She drank milk straight from the cows. She could bend metal when she was two years old. When Rose was twelve, she stopped a herd of cattle from stampeding. She jumped on the biggest bull's back. She grabbed his horns, and she stopped him.
Rose decided to take the herd to market. She rode on the big bull. There was no rain on the trail. The cattle were tired and thirsty. Rose tried to lasso the clouds. She tried to squeeze rain out of them.
But a tornado came instead. Rose tried to tame it. The tornado became two tornadoes. Rose began to sing. Her voice sounded like thunder. Rose's song calmed the tornadoes. It began to rain.
Summary (Spanish)
Rosa nació en medio una gran tormenta. Ella podía hablar desde el día que nació. Rosa tenía el poder de los truenos dentro de ella. Bebía leche directamente de las vacas. A los dos años podía doblar metales. Cuando cumplió doce años, detuvo una manada de ganado que salía en estampida. Saltó sobre el lomo del toro más grande. Sujetó sus cuernos y lo hizo detener.
Rosa decidió llevar la manada al mercado. Iba montaba sobre el toro grande. No se vislumbraba lluvia en camino. El ganado estaba cansado y sediento. Rosa trató de enlazar las nubes. Trató de exprimirles algo de lluvia.
Pero lo que llegó fur un tonado. Rosa trató de amansarlo. El tornado se convirtió en dos tornados. Rosa comenzó a cantar. Su voz era como el sonido de los truenos. La canción de Rosa logró que los tornados se calmaran. Entonces comenzó a llover.