Why do hurricanes happen?
What is a tornado? Why does it snow?
You can find the answers to all of these questions in this book and many more.

Wow what an amazing and relevant book. Great for teaching children weather. There is so much information and it is so well presented. I love that the author didnt dumb down the information.

Reading Level: Intermediate – Grades 4th - 6th
Genre: Nonfiction - Informational

This fun hands-on book explains the many processes of the weather with pop-ups and pull-outs. This is a wonderful nonfiction book that explains in great detail the many processes of weather. The book brings in geography and history curriculum content areas as well as math and science. The book itself is packed full of vocabulary which needs to be deciphered.

How the weather works: A hands-on guide to our changing climate by Christiane Dorion, illustrated by Beverley Young

The Text and Illustrations: The text and illustrations in this book are smoothly integrated. Chunks of text are crammed together with small illustrations, flaps, pull tabs, and other moving parts to create a picture of the science of weather and changing climates. A general explanation of weather is followed by more detailed explanations of the water cycle, weather fronts, winds, meteorology, weather disasters, climate, a timeline of weather history, and a final section on global climate change.
Each spread is full of information, moving parts, illustrations, and text. The font is a casual script that looks hand-written and the pictures are colorful and cheerful.

The Extras: There are no sources or bibliographical information.

Verdict: This is an excellent introduction to weather, packed full of information, facts, and pictures. However, the moving parts make it a doubtful choice for a library and despite the title there is little information about climate change. There are quite a few general weather books out there that would be more long-lasting. This might be a good gift for a child interested in weather and science.

ISBN: 978-0763652623; Published February 2011 by Templar; Borrowed from the library

Little Kid Reaction: The fourth-grade students loved the interactive elements and the arrangement of the topics. Many of them wanted to check the book out and take it home to look at again.

Big Kid Reaction: I liked the fact that the author did not “talk down” to the audience. She crams a lot of information into this book.

To read our full review, go to The Reading Tub®.