Bruce Hiscock

A lovely story of a beautiful Sugar maple tree that stands on a hill in northern New York State, by a farmhouse on a dirt road. Over four feet thick, it rises high in the air at one hundred feet tall. Dating back to the American Revolution when this tree was a tiny seed. In 1775 it took root, sprouted when a large white pine tree was felled by a violent storm, which then allowed bright sunshine to fall on the seedling and it grew!

It provided a space for fun when the children ran around it as show more the leaves fell in the fall. Then in the winter, the farmer collected sap from the tree to make maple syrup and maple sugar. Candy was made when syrup boiled longer and spill over into the snow. When it froze, there remained sweet candy.

The life on the farm changed as well as the tree. And, as the book notes, Over two hundred years have passed, and the maple tree sustained them all.

This is a book to read slowly and enjoy the history of both the families, the United States, and the tree.

Four Stars show less

The degree of detail contained in this book is honestly unrivaled in the children's nonfiction category. I am truly impressed with this book. It's longer than many of the picture books I've read, but no less approachable. I really was impressed with the text as a whole. I learned about caribou as one might expect, but also many of the other animals living in the Alaskan Wildlife Refuge. This really describes element of that entire ecosystem. It explains who the caribou's predators are, but show more also their reason for hunting and the benefits such hunting serves. The endnotes were astounding as well. What a great book! show less

For six days during the year of 1982 this book follows the progress of a big storm across America. The Big Storm by Bruce Hiscock does a wonderful job of incorporating science, geography, and history through delightful watercolor illustrations and maps. The text and illustrations combine for a truthful retelling of the progression of the storm and inform the readers about several weather concepts along the way.

The author is not only a scientist, but a self-taught artist and an avid traveler. show more He uses this combination of passions to convey such weather topics as low pressure centers, tornados, precipitation, and cold fronts. The book follows the true story of this big storm through both time and geography from the genesis of the storm over the Pacific Ocean to the culmination of the storm six days later in New York City. Having traveled to many of the places he portrays adds to the appeal of his illustrations.

This book could be used with elementary school students as part of a science unit on weather. The book's engaging style of writing draws the readers into the world of weather. Students can participate in real-world science activities such as analyzing wind patterns, air pressure, and cold fronts in their community to forecast the weather--much like the meteorologists in the book.

This book recounts the true account of The Big Storm of 1982 in a manner that reads like a story. I enjoyed not only the text of this book but also the fascinating watercolor illustrations. The Big Tree, another of Mr. Hiscock's books, delighted my family in a similar fashion. show less

This is a great piece of writing. It's mostly a nonfiction text though it tells the story of a fictional snowy owl as an example of a typical life cycle for snowy owls. The illustrations are incredible and the details are very well researched.