The Girl Who Helped Thunder

1. Bibliography

Bruchac, James, and Bruchac, Josheph.2008. THE GIRL WHO HELPED THUNDER AND OTHER NATIVE AMERICAN FOLKTALES. Ill. by Stefano Vitale. New York: Sterling. ISBN: 978-1-4027-3263-8

2. Plot Summary

THE GIRL WHO HELPED THUNDER is a Native American folktale from the Lenape people and is a story created to teach young girls a lesson about making wise decisions before they jump into marriage. In the story Pretty Face is the most beautiful girl in the village and refuses to marry the men of her village because they are not good enough. After several years of being unmarried, a handsome stranger visits the village and asks Pretty Face to marry him. Pretty Face decides to marry the stranger against her family’s wishes and warnings of caution. The handsome stranger takes Pretty Face to his home in his village in the river. Pretty Face knows that this is a strange place to live and when the stranger reveals himself as the great snake that lives beneath the river she is frightened and cries out to the Thunder Being for help. The Thunder Being appears before Pretty Face and tells her to follow a path and to run as fast as she can back home. As she is running the great snake begins to chase her and eventually they both reach the surface of the water where the Thunder Being is waiting to kill the great snake. After killing the snake, the Thunder Being invites Pretty Face to live with the thunder people in the sky and that is where Pretty Face remains to remind young girls every time they hear thunder to make wise decisions.

3. Critical Analysis

This story is very indicative of how folktales are used to relay morals or important lessons through dramatic happenings with severe consequences. In this particular story Pretty Face is a vain young woman who makes a hasty decision and finds herself in a bad situation. Even with the help of Thunder Being, Pretty Face decides she cannot return to her village because of her shame and instead lives on in the sky with the thunder people to help remind other young girls to make better decisions. The illustrations are colorful and vibrant with an artistic expression that is very common in Native American art.

4. Review Excerpts

LIBRARY MEDIA CONNECTION: “These well-written, simple stories are short and provide the reader with a variety of examples from Native American culture and history.”

SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL: “Storytellers captured the imaginations of their audiences while teaching lessons about respect and personal responsibility”

5. Connections

This story and the others in this book are great for teacher students about the Native American culture and how their culture views the earth and social interactions.

Erdoes,Richard. AMERICAN INDIAN MYTHS AND LEGENDS (PANTHEON FAIRY TALE & FOLKLORE LIBRARY) ISBN: 0-394-74018-1

Hitakonanulaxk. THE GRANDFATHERS SPEAK: NATIVE AMERICAN FOLK TALES OF THE LENAPE PEOPLE (INTERNATIONAL FOLK TALES) ISBN: 1-56656-128-0