The Rumble From the Sky

"Boom." The sky rumbles, and for the first time, Pepper the dog isn't sure her whole world is safe anymore.

Down here, just six inches above the ground, Pepper's day always starts small - watching a line of ants march along a crack in the sidewalk, nose twitching at the smell of rain on the way. But when the storm rolls in for real, with thunder shaking the windows and lightning splitting the sky, Pepper's favorite hiding spot - right under the bed - turns out to already have a visitor: Marmalade, a fluffy orange tabby cat, just as scared as she is.

Two animals who've never met, huddled together under the same bed, discover that fear feels a little smaller when it's shared. As the storm rages on, Pepper's family gathers close, and someone opens up an old favorite - Six Inches Above the Ground - reading Pepper's very first adventure back to her, page by page, until the thunder outside starts to feel further away than the story right in front of her.

When morning comes and the storm finally passes, Pepper pokes her nose back outside - and finds the ants' trail washed clean away by the rain. She wonders, just for a moment, what last night's storm must have looked like from all the way down at an ant's-eye view... and tucks the thought away for another day.

The Rumble from the Sky is a gentle, reassuring story for any child who's ever pulled the covers up tight at the first crack of thunder. Told entirely from Pepper's ground-level point of view, it's a book about how new friendships can be found in the scariest moments, and how the people (and pets) who love us can make even the loudest sky feel quiet again.

Perfect for ages 3-7, and ideal for reading aloud during storm season - or any night a little extra courage is needed.

This is Book 4 in Another Adventure of Pepper Living Life at Six Inches Above the Ground, the picture book series by Pepper the Dog, published by Melon Glow Books.