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Striking images, models and illustrations offer a unique view of catastrophic weather conditions allowing readers to see into the eye of a cyclone, witness hailstones the size of tennis balls, and learn how a gentle mountain stream can become a raging surge within a few minutes.

Told from the perspective of a boy who witnesses the sky growing ominously purple and rushes to evacuate with his family, Hurricane! is set in Puerto Rico and based on a childhood experience of the author’s. The family huddles together in a shelter while the winds howl. They and their neighbors take solace from gently singing “Silent Night” while waiting out the storm.

Kissimmee Pete, the cracker cow hunter, is back for another wild adventure. After rounding up a herd of cattle to send to Cuba, Pete and his trusty dog Mud load the herd onto a steamship and watch the ship leave the dock. But only seconds later, there’s trouble in store for Pete. A hurricane has blown in, and it’s up to the larger than-life cow hunter to save his cattle and stop the storm before it’s too late.

When a storm is raging, David and George are glad to be inside the house, snug and safe. In this spectacular picture book by Caldecott Honor recipient David Wisener, a fallen tree becomes the threshold to the limitless voyage of the imagination, which David and George share as only true friends — and brothers — can.

Signs of summer pop up with each page turn and are briefly described, sure to delight adult and child alike. Bright color and engaging text encourage involvement with all things summer. While not terribly fragile, young hands may need a reminder to handle with care.

It’s a happy day for Ducky Duckling as it plays in the rain, hugs bugs, and more. Simple sentences and lots of quacking combine with colorful, naïve illustrations that will encourage engagement as well as delight young listeners.

“What are these?/Trees. And those?/Shadows.” Short, poetic, rhythmic questions and answers and textured illustrations progress from a frozen winter woods to the coming of spring and all of its changes. 

Two children walk across an autumn landscape greeting birds, animals, leaves and more. Gradually, the season changes and the now-bundled up kids greet the signs of winter. Soft illustrations and lyrical text gracefully evoke the evolution of seasons.

Imagine a force that can toss boats around like toys, wash away bridges, and create waves as high as eighteen feet. With fierce winds and torrential rains, hurricanes can do all of these things. Young readers will learn how hurricanes are formed, how they are named and classified, and what to do if a dangerous storm is on the way. 

Factual information about weather and the water cycle is included in this comic graphic novel. Welcome to the Mad Scientist Academy, where slapstick humor and fast-paced action come together in a silly but engaging romp.

Winter is a season of questions and of waiting. How do animals live during the cold winter? How do snowflakes form? What is it we wait for in the winter? But all the waiting and wondering come to an end and “wonderful winter makes way for … spectacular spring.” Photographs and an informal text plus a few activities just right for the season make this a cozy book. 

Scratchboard illustrations accompany an invocation, a poem that invites something to happen. Here a girl wants the world to slow down just a bit so her pilot mother doesn’t have to leave. What happens before morning? A huge snowfall slows everything down. Dark lines and rich shapes of a winter cityscape unfold along with the poem, leaving room for the reader to imagine. 

Lyrical rhymes and gorgeous color photographs capture the magic of winter. The combination of image and word also explores the water cycle and animals in the winter. This handsome book is a worthy companion to the author’s Raindrops Roll (opens in a new window).

A young child hears something outside — “pit; pit; pit against the window.” It’s the first snow! She dons her clothes and goes out to play. In a dreamlike sequence, she and other children make multiple snowmen before the girl returns to her own backyard. Touches of red are added to variations of black, white and grey for a sweet portrait of a first snowfall.

When the little penguins see snowflakes, they wonder how many? There are many! They dress for the weather and go play in the snow, tired and content when it’s time for bed. Bold forms of round-headed, dark penguins that play in the snow stand out until they recede in the night of their own room. This is a charming, whimsical, wintery tale.

A child converses with the changing world around her as she observes and explores the transition from late summer to autumn.  Simple illustrations accompany a rhythmic text on this jaunt through woods and a town

Sitting with his dog lamenting all the things that a rainy day stops him from doing, a boy’s clever mother draws a scene in which they all have fun in a puddle. The drawing becomes reality when they all go out to enjoy the weather. Childlike illustrations on open pages convey joy in the everyday activity.

Stunning photographs accompanied by lyrical text describe rain and its effects in a rainforest and on people. This handsome book can be read as poetry, examined for its photography, and/or used as an introduction to the water cycle and weather.

Orphaned at birth, Lanesha has second sight, giving her the ability to see her mother’s ghost. She also senses an impending storm which will devastate New Orleans and that her grandmother won’t survive. How Lanesha stays alive and the people she meets and helps along the way — plus a bit of magic realism — create a compelling read. See the two other two books in the Louisiana Girls Trilogy, Bayou Magic (opens in a new window) and Sugar (opens in a new window).

Cornelius Washington was proud of his hometown, New Orleans. His job as a sanitation worker was important before Hurricane Katrina devastated the city but became even more important after when Cornelius worked with others to help restore it. Textured illustrations and a hope-filled narrative combine fact with fiction for a moving look at a catastrophic event.

Although the booming storm frightens Bear, the cub tries different things by himself and with his parents, until the weather passes. Reassuringly, each kiss, snuggle, or song lets him feel better.

Katy and her baby brother Olly go out and about through four seasons beginning with spring when “The birds are busy/And so am I.” Realistically rumpled children engage in recognizable activities are presented in short poems and the artist’s signature illustrations for a charming collection that celebrates childhood and the seasons.

A grandmother and her grandson enjoy flying a kite on a windy spring day near their seaside home. Lush, textured illustrations show the landscape and animal inhabitants and the way wind plays with hats. Staccato rhymes chronicle the joy-filled day that ends with a shower.

Many things happen when the wind blows. Dune grass bends, waves spray, and “Copper whirls ‘round/Between two magnets/High aboveground” to generate electricity that is used to power our nation. Lyrical text and realistic illustrations provide a creative introduction to wind power.