In 1935, a nine-year-old boy's family held a forbidden Potlatch in faraway Kingcome Inlet. Watl'kina slipped from his bed to bear witness. In the Big House masked figures danced by firelight to the beat of the drum. And there, he saw a figure he knew. Aboriginal elder Alfred Scow and award-winning author Andrea Spalding collaborate to tell the story, to tell the secret of the dance.

In this rainy-day story, a thunderstorm evokes a boy's family traditions. Benjamin loves the rain. He loves splashing through puddles and watching a rainbow's colors as they ripple around his feet. But most of all, Benjamin loves thunder. To him, thunder - piyêsiwak - sounds like his grandfather's drum. It calls to him, like songs his grandfather plays while his father and other powwow dancers spin and step in time. Benjamin listens to the thunder...

"Learn about the cultural significance of the Haida potlatch through the sights, sounds, and dances of this once-banned ceremony. In this tender picture book, Sara Florence Davidson transports readers to the excitement of a potlatch in Hydaburg, Alaska--her last memory of dancing with her late brother. It feels like my brother and I have always known how to sing the songs and dance the dances of our Haida ancestors. Unlike our father, we were born...