Table of Contents
STORM SCIENCE
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In the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out Science series, Franklyn M. Branley’s Flash, Crash, Rumble, and Roll (HarperCollins, 1999) is a delightfully illustrated introduction to thunderstorms – with great diagrams – for ages 4-8. |
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Other weather books in this series include Anne Rockwell’s Clouds, Lynda DeWitt’s What Will the Weather Be?, Arthur Dorros’s Feel the Wind, and – both by Franklyn M. Branley – Down Comes the Rain and Tornado Alert! An entire weather library for ages 4-8. |
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Myron Uhlberg’s A Storm Called Katrina (Peachtree Publishers, 2011) is the harrowing story of the destruction of New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina, seen through the eyes of ten-year-old Louis Daniel – who wants to be a horn player like Louis Armstrong and manages to save only his brass cornet from the wreckage of his family’s home. For ages 4-9. |
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By Simon Basher and Dan Green, Weather (Kingfisher Books, 2012) is terrific, with funny and informative first-person characterizations of important weather features – among them the Sun, the Atmosphere, Hail, Sleet, Hurricane, and El Nino. (Monsoon – a huge water drop – announces “Boy, am I a big crybaby! Every year I change from bright and sunny to sullen and sulky. I turn on the tears, instantly bringing cloudbursts of my favorite play pal, Rain.”) For ages 8-13. |
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Lee Sandlin’s Storm Kings (Pantheon, 2013) is a fascinating history of tornados and tornado chasers, beginning with the “Electricians” – stage magicians who performed tricks with static electricity – who inspired Benjamin Franklin to embark on his famous key-and-kite experiment with lightning. An absorbing and exciting read for teenagers and adults. |
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From Steve Spangler Science, use the Tornado Tube and a couple of one-liter plastic soda bottles to create your own tornado. Tornado in a Bottle has instructions for tornado-tube experiments and an explanation of how the tube works. |
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Rosalyn Schanzer’s How Ben Franklin Stole the Lightning (HarperCollins, 2002) is an upbeat picture-book account of Ben Franklin’s inventions and innovations, with emphasis on his interest in electricity and his investigations into the nature of lightning. For ages 6-10. |
| For more on Ben for all ages, see Ben Franklin. | |
| From NOVA, Cloud Lab is a multi-part investigative lesson on clouds and storms for middle- and high-school-level students. | |
| At Dan’s Wild Wild Science Journal, meteorologist Dan Satterfield blogs about weather, climate, and earth science for readers of middle-school age and up. Lots of interesting information. |