Franklin and the Thunderstorm

In this Franklin Classic Storybook, Franklin is afraid of thunderstorms. When a storm approaches while he is playing at Fox's house, a flash of lightning sends Franklin into his shell. He refuses to come out - even for snacks - until his friends make him laugh with their tall tales about what causes storms. And when Beaver explains what really causes thunder and lightning, Franklin begins to feel much safer.

About the Author

In 1983, Toronto journalist Paulette Bourgeois decided to write a children's book. All she needed was an idea. That idea came one night as she was watching an episode of the television series M*A*S*H. The character of Hawkeye Pierce refused to enter a cave because he was claustrophobic. "I'm so scared that if I were a turtle, I'd be afraid of my own shell," he said. Thus was born Franklin in the Dark, a tale of a little green turtle who's afraid of small dark places, including his own shell. The name of the turtle came, Bourgeois thought, out of the blue.

"Now I realize that Hawkeye's full name is Franklin Benjamin Pierce!" Brenda Clark began drawing as a small child and realized by the age of 17 that she wanted to become a commercial artist. She studied Illustration at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario, and graduated with an honours diploma in 1977. Shortly afterward, Brenda found that there was plenty of work for a freelancer in educational publishing and her first jobs were for elementary school books.

This experience gave her plenty of published examples for her portfolio and a better understanding of how to interpret a story with pictures.