Lucy Lancaster and the Stormy Day

Inquisitive second-grader Lucy Lancaster is bursting with excitement. Today is the day that she and her two best friends, Heidi and Bruce, are visiting the Discovery Museum. All three of them received mysterious invitations to the museum, and all three were elated to participate in its hands-on science activities. But just when Lucy is planning to leave to pick up her friends, Heidi calls Lucy’s house with awful news. She has the sniffles, and she cannot join Lucy on her museum trip. 

Overcome with sadness, Lucy lets out a magical hiccup. Suddenly, it begins to rain outside. Lucy isn’t surprised. Her magical witch hiccups have been occurring for some time. She hiccups again, and the rainstorm turns into a thunderstorm. Lucy decides to go to the museum despite the bad weather, but when she arrives at Bruce’s house, he tells her that he cannot leave his frightened dog, Frankie, who is afraid of thunder. Lucy must go to the Discovery Museum alone. 

The museum has many wonders, but Lucy cannot help but be in a bad mood. She misses her friends. Nothing feels as fun without them. The museum has a three-person bicycle that can power an ice cream maker, but Lucy is unable to power it alone. Her parents try to cheer her up, telling her that she has the power to brighten her own day. Then Lucy remembers—she’s a witch! In secret, she asks her spellbook for a spell that can bring Heidi and Bruce to the museum, but the book only gives her an incantation to improve the weather. Lucy is disheartened once again. 

Lucy makes her way through the museum’s laser maze, determined to get a good score despite her loneliness. There, she meets a boy named Jackson, and the two quickly become friends after participating in more museum activities together. Jackson tells Lucy that he cannot help her with the ice cream bicycle because he only eats ice cream on sunny days. Luckily for him, Lucy has her secret spellbook! She casts the weather-changing spell, and the two successfully make strawberry ice cream. 

After the museum trip, Lucy visits Bruce and Heidi. Frankie the dog is feeling much better. Realizing that Heidi had a worse day, Lucy gifts Heidi the butterfly keychain from the museum. Lucy’s stormy day ended up being fun after all. 

This third-person story follows a day in the life of young witch Lucy Lancaster as she navigates a series of disappointments. The narration is written in the voice of an eight-year-old, using simple words and descriptions. Lucy’s thought processes are consistent with someone her age, and her worries will be relatable to young readers. She struggles with disappointment, loneliness, and frustration, and her magical mishaps parallel her feelings. In the end, Lucy makes her day better through determination and unwavering kindness, and she manages to make new friends while missing her old ones. Lucy learns that she has the power to turn even the stormiest days into sunny ones. Since this lesson was first imparted by Lucy’s parents, Lucy Lancaster and the Stormy Day teaches that a combination of parental guidance and self-reliance leads to good problem-solving. 

Lucy Lancaster and the Stormy Day is a fun book suitable for independent readers. Large black-and-white illustrations appear on almost every page. The illustrations are charming and highly expressive, effectively highlighting the key details of every scene and visually conveying the emotions of various characters. The instructions and incantation for Lucy’s “Sunny-Day Spell” are included in their entirety as they would appear in Lucy’s spellbook. Each chapter begins with a full-page illustration that seamlessly transitions readers into the next section, picking up where the previous chapter left off. The Lucy Lancaster Series can be read in any order because each book focuses on a new adventure. 

Stormy Day mixes interesting real-life science with fantastical magic. Young readers interested in STEM studies will enjoy Lucy’s enthusiasm toward the museum and the various exhibits she sees. 

Sexual Content  

• None 

Violence  

• None 

Drugs and Alcohol  

• None 

Language    

• None 

Supernatural 

• After learning that Heidi is too sick to visit the museum, Lucy starts to hiccup. Lucy’s magic hiccups cause it to start raining outside. “The sky darkened outside the kitchen window. Raindrops began pelting against the window, and a strong wind whooshed through the branches.” 
• Lucy reflects on the other magical things that her hiccups have caused in the past, “like magically tidying up her room. Or totally turning her room upside down.” 
• Running into the coat closet, Lucy’s toes begin tingling, and she lets out another hiccup. This time, she sees “sparks of magic” in the air that cause the rain to turn into a thunderstorm. She also notices that her magic hiccup caused her raincoat and rain boots to appear on her body. 
• In the museum, as soon as Lucy remembers that she has a magic spellbook, it appears in her hands. 
• Lucy wants her spell book to give her a spell that will bring Heidi and Bruce to the museum. Lucy opens to a random page in the book, and she sees that “The Sunny-Day Spell” has magically appeared, an incantation that would stop the rainstorm. Angry with the book, Lucy hiccups again, and her Book of Spells suddenly flies out of her hands in a gust of wind. The wind also blows Lucy into the museum’s laser maze. 
• When Lucy’s new museum friend Jackson tells her that he cannot eat ice cream on a rainy day, Lucy once again summons the spellbook (in secret). She chants The Sunny-Day Spell. More sparks of magic emerge and fly away in the wind, and the thunderstorm turns into a perfectly sunny day. “The clouds parted, and the sun started shining. It was incredible!” 

Spiritual Content  

• None 

by Gabrielle Barke