The Bravest of Us All [Hardcover]

Marsha Diane Arnold (Author), Brad Sneed (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Daring ten-year-old Velma Jean, one of seven brothers and sisters, walks barefoot over sandburs, swims in the new horse tank, even stands up to Alfred the Bull. Every day Velma Jean does something that amazes her siblings. To her sister Ruby Jane, she is the bravest of them all. But when a tornado touches down near the edge of their farm, it is Ruby Jane who must draw upon her inner strength to stand up to the weather and save Velma Jean's life.

Marsha Diane Arnold, winner of the Marion Vannett Ridgeway Award, tells an exciting story about family love and the bravery it inspires. With vibrant art by Brad Sneed soaring across each page, this suspenseful picture book unfolds quickly, spinning its way into a child's imagination.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3-A simple story told with the authenticity of oft-told family history is set in flat, Midwestern farm country (ostensibly Kansas) in an indeterminate time that appears to be the 1920s. Velma Jean is the boldest of all her brothers and sisters, unafraid of breaking colts, of meeting strangers, even of the fierce bull, Alfred. By comparison, her admiring sister Ruby Jane feels quite ordinary. "Somehow, bein' the best kitchen helper wasn't near as exciting as bein' the bravest." But Velma Jean harbors a secret, which is revealed when a tornado brews, and the family must seek shelter in the root cellar. Velma Jean is afraid to be cooped up underground, and it is Ruby Jane who has the courage to go after her sister and urge her to safety. The watercolor illustrations set the scene in a slack and windy style. The children are depicted as skinny and loose-limbed as rag dolls, playing around the horse tank in view of the windmill and sorting through Mama's buttons in the pickle crock. Told in a folksy vernacular that relies a bit too heavily on dropped affixes ('cause, nothin', starvin'), the plot seems as predictable as the iconic sunflowers and the wind. That said, however, the story is not without flavor and may be of particular interest for family-history units.
Kate McClelland, Perrot Memorial Library, Greenwich, CT
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Like George Ella Lyon's One Lucky Girl , Darlene Beard's Twister (1999), and many of the other tornado and hurricane books recently published, this picture book connects the terror of the storm with a family story of courage and love. Ruby Jane remembers her childhood on a small farm, where times are hard (sometimes dinner is "a mite meager"), but she feels safe at home. She admires her big sister, Velma Jean, who seems scared of nothing. But then Ruby Jane discovers her sister's secret fear. When the big tornado comes, Velma Jean isn't afraid of the funnel cloud; she's afraid of being shut in the storm cellar with its dark corners. It's Ruby Jane who must help her older sister through her fear and coax her to take shelter. Sneed's watercolors, filled with light and motion, are less effective in the slightly skewed close-ups of the children's faces than in the wind-swept double-page spreads of farm and sky. Hazel Rochman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dial; 1st edition (May 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803724098
• ISBN-13: 978-0803724099
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,273,388 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Marsha Diane Arnold is an award-winning author who the media has called "a born storyteller".

She's written eleven books, some magazine articles, a few poems, and when her children were young, over 500 newspaper columns! The column was called "homegrown treasures" She's received picture book honors as well, including The Ridgeway Award for Best First Book, Children's Choice awards, IRA Distinguished Book, and Smithsonian Notable Book.

Her two newest books show the range of her writing ability. The sweet Family Choice Award winner, Hugs on the Wind, is a very, very quiet book and the uproarious Northern California Book Award nominee Roar of a Snore is a very, very LOUD book.

Marsha travels nationally and internationally as a speaker for schools, conferences, and author festivals. When she's not visiting schools in her travels, she's traveling for fun. Recent trips include China, Alaska, and the Galapagos Islands. Marsha is currently working on a picture book about the Galapagos with a Galapagos nature guide who was born and raised there.

In 2008, Marsha was invited to be one of seven artists involved in Sequoia National Parks Foundation's 2008 Artists in the Back Country, the only children's author ever invited. Part of that involvement was a week at 11,000 feet at Foxtail Camp in Sequoia National Park, where she, along with a National Geographic photographer, a Hugo Award winner, painters, and photographers walked the hills, talked about their experiences, and were inspired by the magnificent landscape. The program hopes to rekindle the American tradition of enhancing public awareness of and appreciation for our national parks and natural world through the arts.

Her vision is to inspire readers to follow their own unique dreams and to have fun doing it! Talking about this with her young fans reminds her to keep following her own dreams, even though she's 60, not 6. "We should never stop dreaming!" she says.

You can find out more about Marsha and her books at her website, www.marshadianearnold.com, or her blog, www.storymagician.blogspot.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Bravest of Us All, December 27, 2001

By 

Roberta E. Ciskey (Bethel, CT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bravest of Us All (Hardcover)

This author is amazing. Not only are her books a pleasure to read, but they also contain heartwarming messages. Any child afraid of storms would be comforted by this story.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sisters and tornadoes, February 18, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bravest of Us All (Hardcover)

Here's a nice story of how the seemingly fearless sister needs help from one of her siblings in the face of a dangerous tornado. To escape the tornado the family needs to take shelter in the storm cellar, but that's the one thing that gives the "fearless" one pause. I particularly liked the illustrations and thought that the long-legged children fit in well with the depression-era names and scenes.

5.0 out of 5 stars My 6 yr. old loves it!, January 3, 2007

By 

A King (Overland Park, KS) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bravest of Us All (Hardcover)

We bought this after Brad Sneed, the illustrator, visited my oldest daughter's school. My preschooler, who is now 6, fell in love with this book. We read it every night for several weeks. She has a fascination with the tornado. She decided that she is "the bravest of us all." And we still call her that to this day.