What is Weather?

[Starred review]. One of my fondest childhood memories is of sitting on my father’s lap on our front porch during a thunderstorm, watching him draw the clouds and lightning formation while the flashes and booms surrounded us. What Is Weather? would well serve parents or teachers in the same sorts of scenes in houses, porches, or classrooms, or even while cuddled in the basement during a tornado, in a storm shelter during a hurricane, or while outside watching the wind blow clouds away after a storm. Hail, sleet, lightning, funnel clouds, snow and rain are all featured in photos and Ellen Lawrence’s straightforward text. This book is well suited for storm chasing children and those who hiding under the covers. For example, one boxed fact on page 16 describes how “Scientists known as ‘hurricane hunters’ fly planes into hurricanes to find out where they are heading. Then they can warn people of danger.” While a bolder child might hear or read this imagining a future career, another child might simply be reassured that a capable adult is getting the best predictions and information possible. This book embodies the thrills of the Weather Channel with early elementary vocabulary and ageless visual appeal.