ACHUKA Book of the Day 20 Jul 2026
PUBLISHED 50 YEARS AGO
First published by Kestrel Books , with illustrations by Jim Russell. Set in Norfolk, it features a developing friendship between two boys who share an interest in aeroplanes.
It was the author’s debut children’s book, written in response to a competition jointly arranged by the publisher and the Guardian newspaper.
During the late 1970s and early 1980s the book was widely commandeered by those who were arguing for tighter control of the primary teaching curriculum. In the novel, reference is made to a child getting away with choosing the same topic year after year.
When Andrew’s family moves house, he strikes up an unexpected friendship with his neighbour Victor. There isn’t a thing Victor doesn’t know about the RAF planes flying overhead and the two boys are soon busy tracking their movements.
Then Andrew discovers that Victor’s beloved Lightnings are due to be scrapped…
Thunder and Lightnings won the Carnegie Medal in 1976.
“The integrity of [Mark’s] writing is matched by the integrity of her depiction of the realities of life, and readers respond to the truthfulness of the worlds she creates. Mark reflects on the era concerns of childhood with perceptive accuracy and wry humour; scrupulous observation and penetrating analysis of human nature characterise her writing.”
Cambridge Guide to Children’s Books in English
Highly recommended website – JAN MARK IS HERE
https://janmark.net/remembering-jan/
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