About the Author

Heather Tekavec was born in Manitoba, Canada, but moved at a young age to British Columbia. After graduation, she returned to Manitoba for two years where she got her certificate in Christian Education, then completed her Early Childhood Education in Vancouver, BC. The preschool classroom is where Heather developed a love for children's books.After taking a writing course through the Institute of Children's Literature, Heather started her writing career with curriculum-based articles for preschool teachers. In 2002, she published her first picture book, Storm is Coming! A follow-up to it, What's that Awful Smell? came two years later. Both books, published by Dial Books for Young Readers, were selected as IRA-CBC Children's Choices. Book club and audio rights to the first have recently been bought by Scholastic. She has also written for older children, including her first YA Novel, The Cost of Passage (Herald Press 2004), and short stories for various magazines.Heather lives with her husband, her three daughters, and a pet rabbit in Langley, BC. She now works full time at home, but stays connected with children by teaching her daughter's girl's club and visiting schools to do author talks.

Reviews

"Tekavec debuts her perfectly pitched read-aloud, accompanied by Spengler's splendid pastel renderings, to create a package that will be used by storytellers, teachers, and most importantly kids, over and over again."-Kirkus Reviews

When a white-bearded farmer announces, "Storm is coming!", Dog panics. He warns the sheep, the yellow duck and the cows, and they all gallop for shelter, their bodies stretched out and legs flailing as they repeat the warning. Two spreads, one tracing a diagonal path downhill toward the reader and the other directed uphill to a distant red barn, magnify the intensity by use of steep perspective. "The barking, the flapping, the bleating and the mooing awoke Cat from her nap in the hay. `And who is Storm?' she meowed." No one knows, but the sheep baa that "He must be-e-e very sca-a-a-ry!" The menagerie cowers at the looming purple-gray clouds ("Storm can't find us in the dark," Dog reminds them) and the bright, zigzag bolts of lightning ("The sky is going to blind Storm so he can't see us!" he decides). Spengler (Clickety Clack) conveys the sense of emergency with close-ups of the worried duck and glimpses of wind-tossed trees, but alleviates the anxiety with well-lit, warm pastel imagery and a peek at the snoozing, unconcerned gray cat. In her picture-book debut, Tekavec wisely leaves it to readers to point out the animals' faulty logic, and soothes fears of thunder by making a game of "Storm's" delayed arrival. Ages 4-8. (Mar.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

"Tekavec debuts her perfectly pitched read-aloud, accompanied by Spengler's splendid pastel renderings, to create a package that will be used by storytellers, teachers, and most importantly kids, over and over again."-Kirkus Reviews