Legend of Thunderfoot Book

The day of the Naming is an important one for young roadrunners. That's when roadrunner parents judge the speed, courage, and hunting skill of their offspring and choose fitting names for them.

One proud fledgling dreams of being named Muscles, or Dash, or even Hunter. If only he hadn't pursued those three juicy grasshoppers for a final snack. If only he'd remembered his parents' lesson: "Always look before you leap." If only he'd paid more attention to the mouse family that had lost two children to a nearby snake. If only the rattler had given some warning before it struck....

Miraculously, the young roadrunner survives the attack, but not without damage. With their son's feet swollen to such an enormous size, his parents have no choice but to give him the humiliating name of Thunderfoot.

It's enough to make a roadrunner wallow in self-pity and give up. But the only thing bigger than Thunderfoot's feet is his heart, and with some not always gentle goading from a wise old gopher tortoise named Berland, he finds the courage to go forward and seek his destiny — and to become the stuff of legends.

Children's Literature

Thunder of the Foote Clan of roadrunners is lucky—or unlucky—enough to be bitten by a rattlesnake and survive, leaving him with formerly fleet feet swollen to a huge size. His life becomes one challenge after another to surmount this handicap. Thunder is chivvied out of his negative attitude time after time by his friend Berland, a venerable gopher tortoise, until the young roadrunner's exploits become legendary. Bill Wallace, the equally venerable teller of animal tales/fables, obviously becomes the sage voice of Berland in this latest of his prodigious output. In this role Wallace sets up Thunder just like the Little Engine That Could, slowly turning Thunder's "I can'ts" into "I can." The book is heavy duty on lessons and moralizing, but kids will probably ignore most of these as they cheer Thunder along. Who couldn't fall for a roadrunner who learns to run faster than any other, fly higher than any other (while transporting a large rock, yet), win skirmishes with coyotes and bobcats, end up with the right girl, and live happily ever after?