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' "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.
Author
Bill Wallace was an American teacher and later an author of children's books. He started writing to quiet down his fourth grade students, who loved his stories and encouraged him to make “real” books. Bill Wallace grew up in Oklahoma. Along with riding their horses, he and his friends enjoyed campouts and fishing trips. Toasting marshmallows, telling ghost stories to scare one another, and catching fish was always fun. Bill Wallace has won numerous children's state awards and been awarded the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award for Children's Literature from the Oklahoma Center for the Book. Bill Wallace died from Lung cancer on January 30, 2012. Former elementary school teacher; West Elementary School, Chickasha, OK, principal, since 1977, and physical education teacher. Speaker at schools and universities in various states, including State University of New York and University of South Florida. AWARDS: Bluebonnet Award from Texas Association of School Librarians and Children's Round Table and Sequoyah Children's Book Award from Oklahoma State Department of Education, both 1983, Central Missouri State University Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 1984, and Nebraska Golden Sowers Award from Nebraska Library Association, 1985, all for A Dog Called Kitty; Central Missouri State University Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, 1984, and Pine Tree Book Award, 1985, both for Trapped in Death Cave.
