Shelf Awareness--Hurricane

PB Review: Hurricane

Hurricane by Jason Chin (Neal Porter Books, 48p., ages 5-8, 9780823458493)

In Hurricane, Caldecott and Sibert Medalist Jason Chin (Watercress; Life After Whale) delivers another sensational work of creative nonfiction that features precise details and exacting illustrations.

"A storm is raging over the Atlantic Ocean." But it's no ordinary storm, it's a hurricane, with "howling winds, raging waves, and torrential rains [that] can cause terrible destruction." And it's heading toward the east coast of North America. Luckily for people who live in its path, the storm is being watched by a weather satellite hovering 22,000 miles above Earth, meteorologists at the National Hurricane Center in Florida, and brave hurricane hunters who pilot their "airborne weather station[s]" into the very storm itself. Informed residents know to prepare with emergency supplies; they fuel cars, check on neighbors, board up windows, and when forecasts indicate lives may be at risk, these residents lock their doors and leave.

Chin's fascinating, information-packed narrative tracks the hurricane day by day, describing the violent storm and its effects on the residents in its path, while sidebars and back matter explain related topics. His pen, ink, watercolor, and gouache illustrations gracefully and diligently depict both the meteorology and the urgent-yet-measured approach informed residents might take. Chin demonstrates the extreme importance of weather monitoring in general, and hurricane tracking in particular, offering a welcome presentation of how they can be vital to human safety and emergency preparedness. Hurricane is a top-notch addition to the strong body of hurricane picture books for children. --Lynn Becker, reviewer, blogger, and children's book author. Originally printed in Shelf Awareness.