Hurricane! [Hardcover]

Corinne Demas (Author), Lenice Strohmeier (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

Hurricane Bob is coming, and there's no time to waste in this thrilling depiction of nature's fury! As her parents rush to prepare for the worst, one young girl on Cape Cod stops to look around. She notices the sea and sky turning the same color gray; the wind howling louder and blowing stronger; her dog Pepper circling his mat. As the storm picks up, so does the tension. Young readers will enjoy the suspense of preparing for a hurricane. They will also sigh with relief once it's over. Vivid watercolors reveal the intensity of the storm while capturing, in their quieter moments, the essence of Cape Cod landscapes and seascapes.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-A story of one family's experience when Hurricane Bob, an actual category-two hurricane in 1991, swept up the coast, leaving destruction and debris in its wake. Preparations beforehand and the experiencing of the storm's force from the snugness of home are related from a child's point of view. Exploring the beach the next day yields unexpected treasures and remnants of the raging winds and rains. Soft, realistic watercolors depict the homey activities of the family as well as the ravages of the hurricane. Mild and reassuring, this picture book may help alleviate a youngster's fear of storms.
Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Inspired by the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Bob in 1991, this picture book uses the first-person narrative of a little girl to chronicle how one family prepared for, experienced, and survived the hurricane on Cape Cod. Demas mixes details about preparation (bringing in the wash, filling containers and the bathtub with water) with particulars more specific to life on the Cape, such as bringing in the sailboats. The writing is strong on description but short on emotion, except when the girl comments that she felt sad when the hurricane was over, "like when the circus left town." The watercolor illustrations, however, make up for the sometimes listless text. Cozy pictures of the family piecing together a puzzle in the midst of the hurricane contrast starkly with sky-and seascapes that convey the awful gathering and angry tumult of the storm. One especially telling detail is the girl's swing seat, which sails high into the air without her. A note at the end provides some fascinating information on what constitutes hurricanes, how they're named, and what warning signs to heed. Connie Fletcher

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Marshall Cavendish Corporation; First Edition edition (March 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0761450521
• ISBN-13: 978-0761450528
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 9.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,831,610 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Corinne Demas is the author of two collections of short stories, three novels, a memoir, a collection of poetry, a play, and numerous books for children. She is Professor of English at Mount Holyoke College and a fiction editor of the Massachusetts Review. Before the year 2000, she published her books under the name Corinne Demas Bliss.

Corinne grew up in New York City, in Stuyvesant Town, the subject of her memoir, "Eleven Stories High: Growing Up in Stuyvesant Town 1948-1968". She attended Hunter College High School, graduated from Tufts University, and completed a Ph.D. in English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University. She lived in Pittsburgh for a number of years, teaching at the University of Pittsburgh and at Chatham College.

She lives with her family in Western Massachusetts and spends the summer on Cape Cod. You will find more information at her website: www.corinnedemas.com

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hurricane is a great book!, November 25, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hurricane! (Hardcover)

It has great detail. Hurricane is one of Corinne Demas's best books (and her other ones are great, though). I really liked when she told what it was like after the Hurricane.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars HURRICANE, April 20, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Hurricane! (Hardcover)

The paintings and text of this book combine to capture all the feelings associated with a hurricane - the anticipation and excitement before, the fear and then the unexpected calm during, the shock and awe at the desolation afterwards. The sea and landscape illustrations are particularly strong and descriptive, and the warm interior views and language should be comforting and reassuring to a child faced with or reliving a similar event. A sense of urgency which seems to be downplayed in the text, is none the less conveyed through the very active illustrations and the artist's unusual perspectives.