Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
Hurricanes!
Nonfiction Picture Book
For ages 4 to 8
Holiday House, 2010 ISBN: 978-0823422975
Hurricanes get their name from the word Hurakan, which is the name of the Mayan god of big winds. These weather systems are always born over warm tropical waters where warm moist air evaporates, spiraling upwards into the sky to form clouds. If the water gets to be eighty-one degrees Fahrenheit or more, the movement of the spinning air accelerates, and when it reaches seventy-four miles per hour, the storm is considered to be a hurricane.
Although hurricanes have been well studied, and although they tend to form in the same general area over the Atlantic Ocean, they are very unpredictable, which makes it very hard for people to prepare for their arrival. High winds, heavy rain, and storm surges along coastlines make these storm systems very dangerous and costly.
This informative picture book will help young children to understand how hurricanes form, what happens when they make landfall, and what the different categories of hurricanes are. The author also describes some famous hurricanes, including the one in Galveston in 1900, and Hurricane Andrew in 1992.
