Storms

Detailed and thorough descriptions of lightening/thunder storms, tornadoes and hurricanes are given. There is plenty of information about what we know about how the storm is created, the role of electricity in the storm, etc. What people should do if they are caught in a storm so that the risk of personal injury is lessened is also explained in detail. Hail is explained with a wonderful photo of a cross-section of a large hailstone. The damage and injury that hail can do is explained in detail. There are brief descriptions of two types of clouds. Simple rainstorms are not discussed, and not every type of cloud is addressed. I felt that the author should have included an explanation of how certain storms are regional or more likely to occur in certain areas of North America. Warnings of death, airplane flight issues, and injury are given, so be forewarned if you are reading this to very young readers. There is no mention as to the frequency of the storms, which had my child worried that we'd soon encounter a tornado (even though they are extremely rare in our area of the country and despite the fact that I censored out some of the scarier results of the storms).NOTE: After I read "Storms" and wrote the above review I read his separate books focused on one topic: "Hurricanes" and "Lightning". The books which focus on one topic are actually more interesting in style of writing, contain more information about where storms hit, details of how dangerous they are or are not, and give many more specific and wonderful photographs. Therefore I prefer the books that focus on one individual topic. "Storms" seems to boil down the information in a way that is not equal to reading the individual books. For this reason I will rate this book a 4, and I rate the individual books a 5. The photographs are stunning and depict everything covered: from gorgeous lightening to large storm fronts, to hurricanes with the eye visible, to a series of photos of a tornado, going from its' beginning to end. I feel the high quality photographs are key to maintaining the interest level of the child and they help the child understand and remember the information.

What a gorgeous book. It's written to appeal to a young audience, but anyone can enjoy the stunning photographs. It makes you appreciate the inherent beauty of storms. It covers everything from Clouds, to rain, to tornados. As well as providing information about each subject, it often includes safety information for children which I found to be very responsible.