PreS-Gr 1-Mick, Mack, and Molly, three squirrel siblings introduced in Hooray for Spring! and Hooray for Snow! (both NorthSouth, 2009), get caught in a thunderstorm. They take refuge in a small cave where they meet a rabbit and two mice, also riding out the inclement weather. When the rain stops, they all run out to play together, declaring that they are the "Summer Storm Friends." There's really not enough interaction among the characters to show the developing friendship. Also, the title and cover art fail to hint at the main focus of the story: the storm. Cover-art issue aside, the illustrations are the best part of the book. The animals' faces are expressive, and the colors go from bright to muted to dark as the storm approaches. Yellow highlights the dark as lightning crashes and rain streaks down the pages in white stripes. A solid addition, especially where the first two books are popular.-Kelly Roth, Bartow County Public Library, Cartersville, GA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Three little squirrels are playing in a field when the birds warn them of a coming storm. Running homeward as the rain starts pelting down, they take shelter in a small cave, where they find two little mice also hiding. A small rabbit joins them just before the lightning and thunder begin. Huddled together, they tremble with fear until the storm lets up and the sky brightens. Outdoors again, they play together until suppertime, celebrating summer, its storms, and the Summer Storm Friends it creates. First published in Japan, this picture book vividly portrays the wide-eyed fear of the young animals and their sudden bonding when lightning strikes nearby. The illustrations, with their precise lines and soft colors, could convey the basic story on their own, but the words add another dimension by telling what cannot be seen, from the characters' words to the scent of the earth after a storm. A good read-aloud choice as summer approaches.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist

In this old-fashioned picture book translated from the Japanese, three little squirrel children play outside until a sudden thunderstorm blows up. They take shelter in a cave created by the roots of a giant tree. The cave is already occupied by two mice; soon a bunny joins them, and they all wait out the storm together. Iwamura conveys the terror of the storm with one ingenious double-page spread where readers must turn the book vertically to see the tremendous lightning strike from top to bottom of the pages, with the animals huddling together in the tiny cave. The new friends rejoice in the storm-cleaned air, and at the end Mick, Mack, and Molly Squirrel play on a seesaw, balanced on the other side by the two mice and the bunny. Iwamura's delicate paintings use fine black lines for outlining each of the many real, recognizable plants, with most of the pages made up of sky to give the perspective of small creatures in a big and sometimes scary world. From HORN BOOK, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.