The Storm [Hardcover]

Kathy Henderson (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

When a fierce storm threatens their seaside home, Jim and his mother take refuge at his grandmother's house up the hill.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Young Jim takes an owner's pride in the high grass banks and marshes surrounding his coastal home. "All this is mine!" he shouts at the early spring wind. But that night the same wind rages and a powerful storm blows in: "It stirred up the sea, bent trees... rattled at the doors and windows, and tore through the dreams of people sleeping." Jim and his mother race out to see wild, flooding waves approach, and the two scramble for shelter at Grandma's hilltop house. As the storm passes, Jim has a new respect for nature: "All this is yours," he whispers to the now-calm wind. Henderson's (A Year in the City) evocative imagery and kinetic mixed-media paintings are a combination of grace and fury, just like the storm. Her depiction of fierce winds, hail and white waves crashing against an inky horizon are particularly memorable. Ages 5-8. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1-Surveying the beach, the marsh, and the sky on a windy end-of-winter day, Jim shouts, "All this is mine!" But when a fierce gale and rising sea arrive during the night and threaten his home, he and his mother beat a hasty retreat to Grandma's house on a nearby hill. There, they wait for the tide to turn. When the storm finally passes, Jim returns to the beach and, this time, whispers to the wind, "All this is yours." The windmill and cozy stone cottages hint of a European setting but the little boy's response to the forces of nature is universal in this simple though dramatic story. The straightforward text is brief and often lyrical in describing the sudden fury of the storm, and the double-page mixed-media illustrations capture the foaming, roiling sea and swirling wind in both color and line. While it is hard to accept that a mother would allow her child to climb the dunes in the eye of the storm and teeter above the churning waves, Jim's excitement, fear, and eventual relief are effectively and realistically portrayed. Pair this at storytime with Karen Hesse's Come On, Rain! (Scholastic, 1998) for a complete contrast in setting and mood.
Carol Ann Wilson, Westfield Memorial Library, NJ
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Candlewick; 1st edition (November 3, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0763609048
• ISBN-13: 978-0763609047
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,113,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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