Old Thunder and Miss Raney

Old Thunder and Miss Raney was written by Sharon Darrow and illustrated by Kathryn Brown.  This fabulous story, which is set in Oklahoma tells of Miss Raney, who has previously been disappointed in her efforts to win a blue ribbon at the county fair, and her horse, Old Thunder, who is swaybacked and slow, but much beloved. The story, which begins with a tornado that sweeps them into the sky on the way home from the store, continues with Miss Raney using the cyclone-sifted flour to bake up a batch of exceptionally light biscuits. Disappointed that someone else wins the blue ribbon again this year, she feeds the remaining biscuits to Old Thunder, who astonishes her by entering the plow horse race and winning. The judges then give Miss Raney's biscuits a blue ribbon for "best horse feed."

Old Thunder and Miss Raney is a great example of historical fiction.  According to the textbook, Literature and the Child, on page 17, it explains that historical fiction tells a story set in the past; it portrays events that did or could definitely occur.  While the actually story, if written without the illustrations, could be classified as contemporary realistic fiction, when adding the illustrations to the mix, it definitely makes it set in a historical setting.  The illustrations in this story are a great example of ink drawings that are then water colored to give them a whimsical feel.

This book is recommended for ages 4 and up.  I would definitely agree with this recommendation but, for a child to be able to read the book on their own, they would definitely need to be a good reader.  It is written with a 1800’s feel so some of the verbage leans toward words like “giddyup”, “indeedy”, “ain’t a-goin”, etc.  Readers will need to be able to figure out words that are not normal vocabulary. 

If presenting this book to your students in your classroom, I would suggest adding the following activities to bring the book alive:

1.  Have students rewrite the story, telling what recipe they would make and what ingredient would get mixed up in the tornado.  Then have them end it with whether their recipe won the blue ribbon or not and give supporting details on why/why not.

2.  Have students create an advertising poster that advertises Miss Raney’s Sooner High-Energy Horse Biscuits and display them on a bulletin board outside the classroom.

READER RESPONSE QUESTIONS:

1.  How would you feel if you were Miss Raney and you were convinced your biscuits would win the blue ribbon?
2.  Can you create new and unusual uses for Miss Raney’s biscuits?
3.  What are some of the problems of this story?
4.  Can you explain what must have happened to the flour when it was mixed in the tornado for it to make Old Thunder win the race?

REFERENCES:

Darrow, S. (2000). Old thunder and miss raney. New York, NY: Dorling Kindesley Publishing, Inc.

Galda, L., Cullinan, B. E., & Sipe, L. R. (2011). Literature and the child. (7th ed. ed.). Belmont: Wadsworth Pub Co.