The Brain Storm

by Linda Ragsdale, Claudio Molina (Illustrator)

Overview

"A sturdy addition to the bad-mood shelf." -Kirkus

This wordless picture book is a thought-provoking exploration of disruptive feelings. Readers may interpret these as anger, anxiety, or even a creative brain storm.

Follow along as a mood pesters a young boy and ends up rubbing off on all those around him. After a frustrating day under his version of a little dark cloud, he discovers that ultimately working through your feelings and emotions begins with you. The wordless pages inspire readers to "read" the story as they apply their own interpretations to the young boy's plight.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781486715565
Publisher:	Flowerpot Press
Publication date:	03/05/2019
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	828,912
Product dimensions:	8.70(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Linda Ragsdale wants everyone to be a dragon—a Peace Dragon, that is! As an award-winning author, illustrator, international speaker, and peace teacher, Linda developed her Peace Dragon Tales to help us harness our fiery and emotional energies and redirect them into peaceful and productive outcomes. Linda invites you to be a Peace Dragon ambassador and join the over 37,000 students from around the world by using a heart-centered View, Voice, and Choice to color our world with compassion. Find her personal story of choosing peace, along with some fun Peace Dragon extras at www.ThePeaceDragon.com.

Claudio Molina grew up in Argentina. In his teenage years he developed an interest in art. Since then he has mostly been self-taught. He began going to story times at the local library with his little girls and reading books to them, and it was then that he discovered the world of children’s books. He now lives in Bloomington, Indiana, with his wife Amy and their two daughters Jillian and Olivia, who are his inspiration.

Editorial Reviews

12/24/2018

In this wordless story, a boy wakes with a tornadolike scribble hovering above his head—readers will grasp that it signifies a bad mood. Throughout a brief school day, the scribbly storm proves contagious, trailing from the boy to his classmates. Back at home, his elderly guardian knits the bad mood into the shape of a sweater, and the boy glares at it as it unspools like thread. Finally, the boy folds the problematic mood into the shape of a paper airplane and sends it flying away. Molina’s modest spreads allow the brain storm to dominate, capturing the overwhelming feelings that come with a grumpy day. Ages 5–8. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

An easy-to-grasp, wordless story about mind management that can be incorporated into early grade lessons that involve this important life skill.

From the Publisher

04/01/2019

PreS-Gr 1—At the sound of his alarm clock, a little boy wakes up with a storm, portrayed by pencil scribbles, rising from his head. While he goes about his day, the swirling mass proves to be a nuisance. At school, it trips players on the basketball court, and at home, Grandma knits a sweater from its black "threads." Taking a hint from her example, the boy finally accepts its presence and puts it to use. This abstract representation of the flurry of thoughts in our heads visually demonstrates the harm and good that come from them. The storm can be distracting and lead to sleeplessness and damaged relationships, but when handled thoughtfully it can be molded toward creative pursuits. Molina uses color sparingly; the final spread of the relaxed child is the only one painted fully. All other pages isolate him and show the dominance of the thoughts by placing them both against cream backgrounds. Faces of other characters are also drawn in pencil, which further distances the boy from the world around him. Ragsdale's wordless narrative teaches children how to take control of their racing thoughts, before assuring them that, once satiated, the mind will calm. Furthermore, this book will pair well with extension activities and discussion to help them understand the lesson individually. VERDICT An easy-to-grasp, wordless story about mind management that can be incorporated into early grade lessons that involve this important life skill.—Rachel Forbes, Oakville Public Library, Ont.

School Library Journal

2019-01-15

An emotional storm shadows a kid all day.

A 6:00 a.m. alarm awakens the scowling protagonist. Above their head floats a black tornado-shaped scribble; its shape also evokes a speech bubble expressing a foul mood. This tenacious scribble won't fit into a hoodie's hood, a backpack, or a school locker—when shoved into these places, it goes, but it always spills out at the same time. The angry-grumpy scribble's size varies, and it infects everything: bed covers, furniture, classmates. It simply won't leave. Back home, a mother or grandmother knits it into an outfit—after all, its physicality resembles tangled string—but, donning it, the protagonist becomes even more furious. Even as a wearable onesie, it still hovers overhead and lurks underfoot. Characters' bodies are solid shapes in soft tertiary colors and lovely subtle textures; everyone's limbs are stick-thin. The protagonist has pale beige skin while others' skin is the white of the background paper. The wordless plot is linear, though readers may wonder how the solution, when it finally arrives, is a solution: Are a rolling pin and a paper airplane an inspiration that could have worked earlier, or did this mood partly need waiting out? Regardless, the ending's a great relief: A spread filled in fully and peacefully with soft, low-saturation colors stands in emphatic contrast to the mostly white, scribble-infected scenes before.

A sturdy addition to the bad-mood shelf. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews

A wonderfully illustrated wordless story. (Starred Review)

Youth Services Book Review