The Big Storm - Softcover

Hiscock, Bruce

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1590786009 ISBN 13: 9781590786000

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press, 2008

Synopsis

Where do storms come from? To answer this question, Bruce Hiscock examines one of the most powerful spring storms ever recorded. Illustrations and simple diagrams help explain how big storms originate and how this one traveled across the United States. Readers will never again look at rain in the same way.

About this title

About the Author:

Bruce Hiscock is the author-illustrator of many children's books, including Ookpik: The Travels fo a Snowy Owl. He lives in Porter Corners, New York.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 1-5-In a format similar to his Big Tree (1991) and Big Rock (1988, both Atheneum), Hiscock describes the effects of a storm that hit the United States in the spring of 1982. With simple, well-chosen words, he conveys a wealth of information about weather. While describing the various stages of the storm, the author smoothly weaves clear descriptions of concepts such as cold fronts and atmospheric pressure into the text. The storm is traced over seven days, so readers are able to see how all of the stages fit together and affect one another. Forecasters try to plot where warm and cold fronts will meet and cause dangerous conditions, and the anticipation is truly suspenseful. Hiscock's illustrations are unspectacular but effective, particularly the diagrams. He does not spell out the meanings of various symbols used in several of the weather maps, but because they relate directly to the scene described, they are easy to decipher. The pictures include meteorologists, adults stuck in traffic, and children watching weather reports, playing in the snow, and reacting to the elements in other ways. Gail Gibbons's Weather Words and What They Mean (Holiday, 1990) and Lynda Dewitt's What Will the Weather Be? (HarperCollins, 1991) introduce the topic to the same age group, but The Big Storm is exceptionally thoughtful, well crafted, and involving.
Steven Engelfried, Alameda County Library, CA
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Boyds Mills Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1590786009
• ISBN 13: 9781590786000
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 32