Clouds of Terror (On My Own) [Paperback]

Catherine A. Welch (Author), Laurie K. Johnson (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 7 and up | Grade Level: 2 and up | Series: On My Own

Living on a farm in southwestern Minnesota in the 1870's, a brother and sister try to help their family cope with plagues of locusts.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 2-4-Set in Minnesota in the 1870s, this story brings some of the hardships of pioneer life to the attention of newly independent readers. The dark, shiny clouds racing across the prairie don't bring the rain that nine-year-old Helga and her seven-year-old brother, Erik, expect-instead, hordes of grasshoppers descend upon them, heralding the family's fight for survival. The action-packed beginning, in which the insects devastate the crops, changes to a conversation-driven text describing how the family makes plans and endures through the winter. Although the characters' faces are not well executed, the watercolor illustrations enhance the mood of the story and provide visual breaks in the text, which does not have chapter divisions. A two-page author's note is included. This is far from Patricia MacLachlan's Sarah, Plain and Tall (HarperCollins, 1985), but it is an adequate story.
Gale W. Sherman, Pocatello Public Library, ID
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Gr. 2-4. Erik and Helga are horrified when locusts devastate the family farm in southeastern Minnesota one summer in the 1870s. Their well is contaminated with dead grasshoppers and insect droppings, crops are destroyed, and many of their friends abandon their farms. Their fear increases when their father goes to seek work in the city, leaving them and their mother alone on the prairie to care for the animals over the winter. The following spring, their father returns, but so do the grasshoppers. The large print and picture book-style artwork (Johnson's watercolors are wonderful) make this appear most appropriate for young readers, but the plot is interesting enough to appeal to older ones, as well. Teachers

with classes of fourth-, fifth-, or sixth-graders might try reading the story aloud. Chris Sherman --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 7 and up
  
• Paperback: 48 pages
• Publisher: First Avenue Editions (April 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0876146396
• ISBN-13: 978-0876146392
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 0.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,083,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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