What’s Scarier Than Thunder?

“In which a family uses imagination to outsmart a high-pressure weather system.”

Written by talented writer/director/actor Ben Falcone, What’s Scarier Than Thunder? is a picture book aimed at helping kids with their fears, a book I was well-suited to work on, because generally speaking, I’m very much a chicken. But in the adult way, mind you—I’m scared of grown-up things, like screwing up my taxes or running out of clean wooden tubs.

But kid fears are a whole different animal. You leave those unaddressed, and phobias start to fester, and your kids start acting really weird. So this was a really gratifying book to work on. Ben has this wonderful take on how to help kids get past their fears, without any of the harsh solutions that were prevalent in my era. Gone are the days, thank god, of helping your children overcome their fear of heights by apprenticing them to a family of tightrope walkers. Especially nowadays, when there’s no money in it. And everyone and their mother has their own footbridge, or… skyway, or… funicular.

SEVEN! Seven YEARS of sleeping under a caravan, squishing into hand-me-down aerial boots and sweat-stained leotards. Did you know that a lion can laugh? Not laugh like we laugh, but a person can train them to make a specific gutteral haw that sounds mocking enough when you’re trying to—

*deep cleansing breath*

Calm blue ocean.

*deep cleansing breath*

Calm blue ocean.

Anywhooo, if you have kids who are scared of thunder—scared of anything, really—consider getting them this book and adopting Ben’s trick, which solves the problem using good ol’ fashioned, natural, homeopathic laughter. No nasty net rash… no donkey bites… no scurvy from an all-funnel cake diet.

I do actually miss this one thing. We used to call it “Bird in a Blanket”. That’s a turkey leg, wrapped in cotton candy.

Accolades and Reviews

Kirkus Reviews: “While Cornell’s energetic, cartoon-style illustrations use a full-color palette to depict Claire, her father, and the setting, scenes depicting Claire imagining the things her dad describes are cleverly rendered in monochromatic blues… Imaginative fun—and just the thing to buoy kids through their own fears.”

School Library Journal: “Cornell deftly balances reality and fantasy by juxtaposing vivid scenes of Claire’s family with the rowdy imagineering of her parents in a palette of blues. VERDICT A fun romp, perfect for story hours.”

An Amazon.com “#1 New Release in Children's Books on Emotions & Feelings”

Extra Stuff!