Books for Independent Reading
VERY EASY
- How Thunder and Lightning Came to Be: A Choctaw Legend
- by Beatrice Orcutt Harrell
(multicultural)
Dial 1995 (32p)
In this comical tale, two birds accidentally discover thunder and lightning
while trying to help the Great Sun Father find a way to warn his people about coming storms.
- Before the Storm
- by Jane Yolen
Boyds Mills 1995 (32p)
Words and art reflect a calm summer afternoon just before a storm.
- Geoffrey Groundhog Predicts the Weather
- by Bruce Koscielniak
Houghton 1995 (32p)
Because of blinding television lights, Geoffrey Groundhog is unable to see his shadow on Groundhog Day.
EASY
Storm on the Desert- by Carolyn Lesser
Harcourt 1997 (40p)
The effects of a desert storm on plant and animal life are poetically described.
- Rocking and Rolling
- by Philip Steele
Candlewick 1997 (24p)
Dramatic illustrations help explain what volcanologists and other scientists know about volcanoes, tsunamis, geysers, glaciers, and erosion.
- A House by the River
- by William Mliller
(Multicultural)
Lee & Low 1997 (32p)
Belinda worries that her house is not strong enough to survive the severe storm and floods that are approaching and wishes that she and her mother lived in town in a house high atop a hill.
- Tornado
- by Betsy Byars
Harper 1996 (49p)
As a family waits out a tornado, they listen to Pete, their farmhand, tell stories about a dog, complete with doghouse, that blew into his life during a tornado years earlier.
- Big Wind Coming!
- by Karen English
(Multicultural)
Whitman 1996 (32p)
With a hurricane approaching, Sarah' s family boards up the windows and prepare to wait, but Sarah sneaks outside to find her favorite doll.
- Dear Rebecca, Winter Is Here
- by Jean Craighead George
Harper 1993 (32p) also paper
A woman writes to her young granddaughter about how the weather changes after the winter solstice, December 21.
AVERAGE
- Wild, Wet and Windy
- by Claire Llewellyn
Candlewick 1997 (24p)
The author offer a fascinating collection of facts about hurricanes, tornadoes, lightning, avalanches, waterspouts, snow, and monsoons.
- Lightning
- by Seymour Simon
Morrow 1997 (32p)
Dramatic photographs and the author's customary simple but fascinating text explain what we have learned about the phenomenon of lightning over the past two hundred and fifty years.
- The Hurricane Mystery
- by Gertrude Chandler Warner
Whitman 1996 (128p) also paper
In their latest adventure, the Boxcar Children are in Charleston to help repair hurricane damage to the house of their grandfather's neighbor, whose pirate-ancestors may have buried treasure on the property.
- Hurricanes
- by D. M. Souza
(Science)
Carolrhoda 1996 (48p)
Clear diagrams and dramatic photographs help explain what a hurricane is, how it develops, and the extent of the damage it can cause.
- The Magic School Bus® Inside a Hurricane
- by Joanna Cole
(science)
Scholastic 1995 (40p)
The Magic School Bus gives Ms. Frizzle and her students a close-up look at a
hurricane from land, air, and sea.
CHALLENGING
- Storm Chaser
- by Keith Elliot Greenberg
Blackbirch 1997 (32p)
NOAA pilot Brian Taggart flies into the eye of a hurricane.
- Weather Explained: A Beginner's Guide to the Elements
- by Derek Elsom
Holt 1997 (72p)
The author explores all types of weather, from mild to extreme, and explains weather forecasting.
- Eye of the Storm: Chasing Storms with Warren Faidley
- by Stephen Kramer
Putnam 1997 (48p)
The author describes the work of storm chaser Faidley, whose photographs of tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hurricanes have appeared inNational Geographic and other magazines and in television documentaries.
- Weather Watch: Forecasting the Weather
- by Jonathan D. W. Kahl
Lerner 1996 (72p)
A professor of atmospheric science at the University of Wisconsin, Kahl discusses meterology and the tools used in developing weather forecasts and tells readers how to make their own weather prediction instruments.
- Hurricanes! Earth's Mightiest Storms
- by Patricia Lauber
(Science)
Scholastic 1996 (64p)
Along with basic information on how hurricanes develop, the author includes photos and text that show the destruction of some of the deadliest hurricanes, including Hurricanes Andrew, Camille, Hazel, and Iniki.
- Snow Watch
- by Cheryl Archer
(science)
Kids Can Press 1994 (56p)
The reader learns how to make a snow gauge, build a snow shelter, decipher animal tracks in snow, and much more.
- Wind and Weather: Climates, Clouds, Snow, Tornadoes, and How Weather Is Predicted
- Scholastic Staff
(science)
Scholastic 1995 (48p)
Visual effects, such as a die-cut page that reveals a tornado's interior and 3-D glasses that demonstrate how clouds move, make this a fascinating book.
Now Available in Paperback
- Rain Player
- by David Wisniewski
Clarion
- Hurricane
- by David Wiesner
Clarion
- The Weather Sky
- by Bruce McMillan
Farrar
Now Out of Print
- Hurricanes and Tornadoes
- by Norman S. Barrett