The Thunderstruck Stork Book

Webster the stork is proud of his work delivering animal babies. But when he crashes into a hot-air balloon, something goes wrong. Soon the bats get a moose and two tiny frog parents receive an enormous newborn elephant!

Children's Literature

Webster, a white-feathered stork who delivers all the new animal babies west of New York, smacks into a hot-air balloon one May day. For the first time in his career, Webster starts delivering babies to the wrong parents. An infant elephant falls down to a pair of waiting frogs; a baby piglet lands in the sparrow family's nest; and the sharks greet a "chirping new chicken." Though not quite what they expected, the new parents receive their babies with joy and love and find ways to help them settle into their unique environments. When struck by lightening on another flight, Webster discovers his errors and calls all storks near and far to help him "make everything right." What Webster and his friends find convinces them that things already are right and they leave the families intact. The simple and humorous rhyme scheme will delight young readers as they hear this book read aloud and then join in for shared readings. It can be integrated into units about the wonderful variety of families in our world today. Reviewer: Melissa J. Rickey