I really enjoyed reading this book because it was relatable and had language that I am not familiar with using. The book was about two brothers who do not get along because they are always competing against each other to be the best. Their mother wants them to come to her house and celebrate her birthday and the only present she wants is for them to stop fighting while they are there. It is a really windy day and every time their mother goes inside they try to out-do each other on who has experienced the windy day. Before they know it, everything around them is getting swept up in the wind and their mother gets stuck on top of the barn. They have to help each other get her down. This is a relatable story because many people feel as if they have to compete with their siblings to seem more competent. Almost anyone would be able to insert themselves into this story and connect it to something that has happened in their life and it makes it interesting to read. This book also used a lot of language that I would consider "old western" slang. It was interesting for me to read each sentence that included this unfamiliar language. I was unsure what some of it meant so I had to use the pictures and the context clues to assist me. The illustrations also added a lot to this story. The two brothers' differences were showcased even further by their juxtaposition in the illustrations. The big idea of this story is that family and love come over any meaningless competition that is going on in your life. You will always help each other out when it comes to something that matters to each of you. ( )

School Library Journal 5/1/2000
Brothers Clement and Clyde have spent their lives one-upping each other. Just before her birthday, their mother invites her grown sons to her ranch, requesting that, "Just once, I'd like to pass the day with you two boys and no squabblin'!" When a wind comes up as they sit on Mama's porch, the brothers can't resist telling tales about winds they've experienced: "You call that a wind?-Why, one day it was so windy, it ripped our clothes plumb off the line-My Mimi's dainties landed on that Texas Ranger statue in front of town hall. Now that was a wind!" When the real wind tops all the tall tales, blowing Mama and her birthday cake up onto the weathervane, Clement and Clyde cooperate to rescue her, pleasing the woman with their efforts and causing all three to agree, "Now that was a wind!" Curry's folk-art style acrylic paintings, featuring chickens whose feathers have been plucked by the gale, a tuba player who has had his instrument blown around his body, exaggerated bowlegs on the brothers, and electric-blue hair on Mama, make a perfect accompaniment to White's witty tall tale. In a subtle touch, Curry's illustrations remain within the frame except when that real wind starts a-blowin. Even if they've never experienced a determined prairie wind or sibling rivalry, readers will be blown away by this amusing book.-Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information