Twister

Author:Darleen Bailey Beard

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Natural Disaster

Year of Publication:1999

Publisher & Location: Douglas & McIntyre Ltd. : CAN

ISBN#:0-374-37977-7

Target Age Level: elementary

# of Pages:32 pages

Quality of Illustrations: blury

Brief Summary:

A rural family and its neighbor face potential disaster as a tornado heads for their homes in this suspenseful though ultimately reassuring picture book. Natt and Lucille enjoy a sultry summer day eating Popsicles and pretending to be royalty. As they dart through the yard, a serious storm kicks up and brings them indoors. When Mama spots an ominous funnel cloud in the distance, she sends Natt and Lucille racing out toward the storm cellar built into the yard while she heads next door to help Mr. Lyle take shelter. During the next several minutes, Natt and Lucille hunker alone in the dark, waiting for the storm to pass and afraid for Mama and Mr. Lyle's safety. Happily, the twister moves on, having caused minimal damage, and Natt and Lucille are quickly reunited with Mama.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:

Beard gets all the details right: the sky turning the color of Mama's guacamole, an ominous silence followed by the "monstrous howling" of wind. The kids are really apealing and the book is a realistic look at what a tornado is like.

Activity:

I might read this book after a tornado drill to give the children a real sense of what they are prepairing for.

Hurricane

Author/authors: David Wiesner

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: hurricane, natural disasters

Year of publication: 2008

ISBN#: 978-0547064338

Publisher: Sandpiper

Age level: Lower Elementary

# of pages: 32

Quality of illustrations: Excellent

Brief summary: David, George, and their parents eat dinner by the fireplace as a hurricane rages outside.  The boys wake up to find a big elm tree blown down and they use it in their imaginative play for many days.  Workers eventually come to remove the tree, but the boys are excited when their dad tells them another storm is coming.

Activity: Talk about the family’s preparations for the hurricane and how it made them feel safe.  Make a list together of what should go in a class first-aid kit and check to make sure the kit is full.  Ask for parent donations of needed supplies.

Out of the Dust

Author: Karen Hesse
Type or emotional/crisis issue addressed: Natural Disasters
Year of Publication: 1997
Publisher and Location: Scholastic, Inc.: New York
ISBN# 0-590-37125-8
Target Age Level: Upper Elementary/Junior High
# of Pages: 227
Quality of Illustrations: None
Brief Summary: Billy Jo lives with her parents in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl. The book is narrated by Billy Jo as she describes her experiences of living through the Dust Bowl, the death of her mother and the new baby, the grief she shares with her father, running away, and then reuniting with her father, as well as the healing process that it all entails.
Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: The book is written as a series of poems.
Activity: Have the students write their own poems describing their situation, and how they could overcome/cope with them.

The Flood That Came to Grandma's House

AUTHOR L. Stallone

Type or emotional/crisis issue addressed: natural disasters

Year of Publication: 1992
Publisher and Location: Upshur
# ISBN-0–912–97502–4
Target Age Level: ninth grade on
# of Pages: 160
Ages: 9-12
Quality of Illustrations: good
Brief Summary: ISBN
Rain from Hurricane Agnes
forces citizens to sandbag the river, but
finally, they must evacuate.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:
Humorous but
realistic illustrations show children what
happens when a house fills with water and
the mess left in its wake. It also reassures
them about handling natural disasters.

Activity: Art work on flood.

The Night of the Twisters

Author: I. Ruckman

Type or emotional/crisis issue addressed: natural disasters

Year of Publication: 1986
Publisher and Location: Harper Collins, New York, NY
# ISBN-10: 0064401766
# ISBN-13: 978-0064401760Target Age Level: ninth grade on
# of Pages: 160
Ages: 9-12
Quality of Illustrations: good

Brief Summary: This is a story of Dan Hatch, a 12 y.o boy, his baby brother, Ryan, and Dan's best friend, Arthur, who are home alone when a devasting tornado sweeps through town and depicts the will to live through disaster, and it stresses the importance of having strong family bonds to get throgh tough times

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children:
Due to some realistic depictions of events surrounding a natural disaster, this book may not be suitable for your younger children.

Activity: Share experiences about natural disasters.
In small groups: discuss what to do in case of a natural disaster.
Posted by Nalu de Araujo Nunes

Earthquake!

Author: Cynthia Pratt Nicolson
Type or emotional/crisis issue addressed: Natural Disasters - Earthquakes
Year of Publication: 2002
Publisher and Location: Kids Can Press, Tonawanda, NY
ISBN# 1550749498
Target Age Level: Upper Elementary, Jr. High
# of Pages: 32
Quality of Illustrations: Photographs
Brief Summary: Gives scientific explanations of what causes earthquakes. It also explains what we can do to prepare for earthquakes and how buildings are built to withstand the shaking.
Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: It’s a great book that shows the true affects of an earthquake and what we can do to prepare.
Activity: Have the children practice an earthquake drill. Discuss how they can prepare their home or other environment for an earthquake.

One Lucky Girl

Author: George Ella Lyon
Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Natural disaster (tornad0)
Year of Publication: 2000
Publisher & Location: New York: DK Ink/D. Kindersley Publishers
ISBN#: 0789426137 
Target Age Level: Lower elementary
# of Pages: 32
Quality of Illustrations: Pretty good, though a bit messy
Brief Summary: Even though their trailer is destroyed by a tornado, a young boy's family is grateful because they find his baby sister alive.
Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: Might be hard for children who weren't as lucky as this family & lost members.

Activity: Draw pictures or make a list of what is most important, especially in light of what was lost in the natural disaster.

Nory Ryan's Song

Title: Nory Ryan’s Song

Author: Patricia Reilly Giff

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Natural Disasters, Financial Difficulties

Year of Publication: 2000

Publisher & Location: Yearling; New York

ISBN#: 0-440-41829-1

Target Age Level: middle school, young adult

# of Pages: 148

Quality of Illustrations: None

Brief Summary: This novel tells the story of the Ryan family during the black potato famine of 1845-1852 in Ireland. Nory’s father is out at sea, her oldest sister leaves the family to go to America and be married. Ultimately Nory is responsible for finding food for her family. This story talks about the incredible destruction that slowly took place during this natural disaster and the means that some people resorted to just to keep their families alive.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book: none

Post Reading Activities: Compare the natural disaster and the effects of this disaster to modern-day natural disasters. Research other natural disasters and ways people were able to survive. Discuss the power of the human will and how we can overcome tragic natural disasters.

Earthquake

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: Natural Disaster

Author/authors: Milly Lee

Year of Publication: 2001

Book Title: Earthquake

ISBN #: 0374399646

Age level: Lower Elementary, Upper Elementary,

# of pages: 32

Quality of illustrations: Great

Brief summary (a short paragraph is sufficient): This is a short story about the experiences of a Chinese family during an earthquake in San Francisco in the early 1900's. There is no resolution to the story, but is very true to life.

Activities: Give the students each a small blank book (made out of folded paper) and have them write and illustrate their own book about their experience of an earthquake. Talk to them to help them process traumatized feelings from the earthquake.

I'll Know What to Do: A Kid’s Guide to Natural Disasters

Author/Authors: Bonnie S. Mark, Aviva Layton

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: NATURAL DISASTERS

Year of Publication: 1997

Publisher & Location: Magination Press, Washington, DC

ISBN #: 1-55798-459-X

Target Age Level: Upper elementary

# of Pages: 57

Quality of Illustrations: Black and white illustrations and a few photos.

Brief Summary: This book is for a child who has gone through a natural disaster. It talks about different kinds of disasters such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes and fire. It gives some tips of what you can do to protect yourself in the various disasters. It then talks about feelings after a disaster and that they are normal. There is also a chapter on sleep problems that may happen after a disaster. It then gives ideas of what you can do to gain control over some of the feelings and some activities the child can do. The forward in the book states that the ideas given in the book have had extensive research and are a result of the authors working with children, parents and teachers.

Post reading activity:
Talk about the information from the book. Depending on the type of natural disaster a child has been through, look at the facts and make a plan of action for in case something happens again. Complete the activities that are listed in the book.

Jess and Sam's Earthquake: Child Survival

Type of emotional/crisis issues addressed: NATURAL DISASTERS

Author/authors: Colleen Politan

Year of Publication: 1997

Book Title: Jess and Sam’s Earthquake: Child Survival

ISBN #: 091993126X

Age Level: Upper Elementary

# of pages: 55

Quality of illustrations: Simple Black & White

Brief Summary: This is a story of a family living through a major earthquake. The book has a series of activities and experiments that are all aimed at teaching kids about earthquakes and about how they can survive one. This book does a great job at teaching kids what to do and empowering them with knowledge and skills that will help them feel in control during a natural disaster.

Post reading activity: Pick one of the many activities found in this book and have the children in your class or group carry out the activity. There are many fun activities and experiments to entertain various age ranges.

A Mama for Owen

Author: Marion Dane Bauer

Type or emotional/crisis issue(s) addressed: Natural Disaster, Adoption

Year of Publication: 2007

Publisher & Location: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, NY

ISBN#: 0-689-85787

Target Age Level: Pre-K, Lower Elementary

# of Pages: 15

Quality of Illustrations: Excellent!

Brief Summary: Based on a true story, a young hippo loses his mother during a tsunami. A young turtle who reminds the hippo of his own mother, becomes his adopted mother. The hippo sees similarities a differences between his hippo mother that was killed and his new ‘mother’ and briefly dealing with changes as an after math of the tsunami.

Personal Comments/Biases, and/or Things to Consider When Using This Book With Children: The illustrations are excellent and the storyline simple.

Activities: Discuss how hippo must have felt when the tsunami hit. If students have more then one parent they can talk about the good similarities and differences of each one.