Librarians' Picks

Selected Reading Unearthed from the Youth Collection
Ann Arbor District Library

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READ UP A STORM:
Picture Books, Fiction, Folktales and Nonfiction with Stormy Themes

Compiled by the Youth Services Librarians of the Ann Arbor District Library,
June, 1998

Reading Level Key		Table of Contents
E = Picture Book Reader = Books for Beginning Readers J = Elementary reading level Y = Middle school reading level		Picture Books  Readers  J Fiction  Y Fiction  Folktales  Nonfiction

   Jump to the links at the bottom of this page

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PICTURE BOOKS

Anderson, Lonzo. The Day the Hurricane Happened. 1974.

Two children living in the Virgin Islands help their grandfather and mother prepare for the storm while their father warns others of its coming.
E AND

Barrett, Judi. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. 1978.

The people of Chewandswallow are used to nice regular meals: meat and vegetables and desserts raining from the sky, right on time and perfectly delicious; but one terrible day, the weather takes a turn for the worse.
E BAR

Calhoun, Mary. Jack and the Whoopee Wind. 1987.

Tired of the everlasting wind in Whoopee, Wyoming, Jack comes up with a series of plans to stop it in an original tall tale.
E CAL

Cowley, Joy. Singing Down the Rain. 1997.

A long dry spell has neighbors snapping and crops shriveling, until a rainmaker drives into town.
E COW

Crimi, Carolyn. Outside, Inside. 1995.

Outside, a fierce rainstorm causes a commotion; inside, Molly and her cat have a peaceful day.
E CRI

Ginsburg, Mirra. Mushroom in the Rain. 1974.

More and more creatures crowd under a mushroom when the rain pours down, and only the frog knows how it is possible.
E GIN

Groth-Fleming, Candace. Professor Fergus Fahrenheit and His Wonderful Weather Machine. 1994.

When a stranger comes to town with a weird machine and claims he can produce weather on demand, the people of Dry Gulch insist on a demonstration.
E GRO

Harshman, Marc. The Storm. 1995.

When a tornado hits and the horses get out, Jonathan brings them to safety, racing across rough ground in his wheelchair.
E HAR

Hest, Amy. In the Rain with Baby Duck. 1995.

Baby Duck hates rain until Grampa gives her a wonderful surprise and shares a surprising secret.
E HES

Hines, Ethel Grossnickle. Rumble Thumble Boom. 1992.

A boy and his dog are frightened by a thunderstorm, and only snuggling with Mommy and Daddy will help—but Mommy doesn’t want the dog in the bed!
E HIN

Kalan, Robert. Rain. 1978.

Simple graphics and text describe a rainstorm for the youngest listeners.
E KAL

Lasky, Kathryn. The Gates of the Wind. 1995.

One day Gamma Lee packs up her bags and goes looking for the place where the river and the wind begin. When she gets there, she and the wind spend years learning to get along.
E LAS

Lyon, George Ella. Come a Tide. 1990.

After the snow comes the rain, and with the rain come the floods, but the narrator and the people in her community know what to do every Spring.
E LYO

Patron, Susan. Dark Cloud Strong Breeze. 1994.

In a cumulative rhyme complete with noises, a young girl helps her father recover keys locked in the car before a storm breaks.
E PAT

Pochocki, Ethel. Rosebud and Red Flannel. 1989.

A fancy nightgown and an old pair of longjohns find love in the midst of a snowstorm.
E POC

Polacco, Patricia. Thunder Cake. 1990.

When a Michigan child is afraid of thunderstorms, her Babushka (grandma) has a perfect antidote.
E POL

Pryor, Bonnie. Birthday Blizzard. 1993.

Instead of ruining the day, a sudden winter blizzard gives Jamie her most unusual birthday party ever.
E PRY

Purdy, Carol. Iva Dunnit and the Big Wind. 1985.

A pioneer woman and her six children use their wits to get through the Big Wind in an exaggerated story of the prairie.
E PUR

Root, Phyllis. One Windy Wednesday. 1996.

When the wind blows every animal’s noise into another animal, Bonnie Bumble has to put everything right.
E ROO

Rossi, Joyce. The Gullywasher. 1995.

Leticia’s abuelito tells her a series of stories about his life as a vaquero (cowboy) and how a terrific gullywasher made him wrinkled, white-haired, round-stomached and stoop-shouldered.
E ROS

Steig, William. Brave Irene. 1986.

Irene Bobbin sets out in a terrible snowstorm to deliver an important package for her mother.
E STE

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READERS

Cocca-Leffler, Maryann. Ice-Cold Birthday. 1992.

A big snowstorm threatens to spoil a birthday party but also creates some unforeseen opportunities for special fun.
Reader COC

Pienkowski, Jan. Weather. 1979.

Weather related words illustrated for the very youngest reader.
Reader PIE

Roberts, Bethany. Waiting-For-Spring Stories. 1984.

As the family passes the winter in their cozy home, Papa Rabbit tells them stories about other rabbits and some of their encounters with the weather.
Reader ROB

Rockwell, Anne. Blackout. 1979.

Dan and his family face hardship and danger when an ice storm causes a 3-day power failure in their town.
Reader ROC

Rylant, Cynthia. Henry and Mudge and the Wild Wind. 1993.

Henry and his big dog Mudge try to keep busy inside the house during a thunderstorm. (Note: There are other Henry and Mudge weather related books.)
Reader RYL

Schick, Eleanor. Rainy Sunday. 1981.

A young girl enjoys some unexpected pleasures on a rainy day.
Reader SCH

Wetterer, Margaret K. Kate Shelley and the Midnight Express. 1990.

Fifteen-year-old Kate risks her life in a storm to prevent a train disaster.
Reader 921 Shelley, Kate

Wetterer, Margaret K. The Snow Walker. 1996.

During the blizzard of March 1988 Milton Daub saves his family and his neighbors by bringing in supplies on homemade snowshoes.
Reader 974.704 WE

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J FICTION

Baum, L. Frank. The Wizard of Oz. 1900.

Dorothy and Toto are swept up in a twister off the plains of Kansas into the fantastic world of Oz, in this well loved American classic.
J Fiction

Byars, Betsy. Tornado. 1996.

When a tornado blows the roof off of Pete’s house it blows in a big black dog who plays card tricks. When Pete grows up he shares the wonderful stories of his dog,Tornado, to distract the children of a frightened family during another storm.
J Fiction

Carey, Peter. The Big Bazoohley. 1995.

Sam Kellow’s family is in trouble. They are stuck in the middle of a snowstorm and Sam must help. Ten thousand dollars, a little romance, sleepwalking and the Big Bazoohley will do the trick.
J Fiction

Corbett, Scott. The Great Custard Pie Panic. 1974.

Mysterious and magical adventures occur when Nick and his faithful dog Bert visit Aunt Nellie’s bakery on a foggy dark night.
J Fiction

Hamilton, Virginia. Drylongso. 1992.

When a skinny "stick-fella" named Drylongso blows into Lindy’s house along with a terrible wall of dust, he brings a knowledge of the drought stricken land as well as laughter and hope to her family.
J Fiction

Kramer, Stephen. Theodoric’s Rainbow. 1995.

Seven hundred years ago Theodoric set out to discover the science behind the beauty of a rainbow. Years ahead of his time, he studied raindrops, made drawings and conquered the mystery to share it with the world.
J Fiction

Pryor, Bonnie. Toenails, Tonsils, and Tornadoes. 1997.

Martin complains when his Great Aunt Henrietta arrives and he has to share a room with Tim and his smelly sneakers. When a tornado swirls through the Snodgrass family reunion Martin’s problems suddenly seem unimportant.
J Fiction

Raven, Margot. Angels in the Dust. 1997.

Great Grandma Annie tells the tragic story of the Dust Bowl, when her family survives storms, fire and poverty with the help of courage, spirit and true friends.
J Fiction

Stevens, Carla. Anna, Grandpa, and the Big Storm. 1982.

Based on an actual event from the Great Blizzard of 1888, this is the exciting story of Anna and Grandpa’s trip to a spelling bee on a cold, snowy night which turns into survival as they are trapped in a car on the Third Ave. elevated train.
J Fiction

Tripp, Nathaniel. Thunderstorm! 1994.

They all could feel the big storm coming. The hawk that swooped above the farm, the fox that sniffed the air and the farmer in the field. This is the story of a thunderstorm, from rain and wind to lightning and finally, a rainbow.
J Fiction

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Y FICTION

Bellairs, John. The Dark Secret of Weatherend. 1984.

Evil wizard Anders Borkman plans to destroy the world by controlling the weather, and only Anthony Monday and Miss Eels the librarian can stop him.
Y Mystery

Dickinson, Peter. The Weathermonger. 1968.

Two children make a strange discovery after England is mysteriously cut off from the rest of the world, machines no longer work, and the weather has gone crazy.
Y Science Fiction

Garland, Sherry. The Silent Storm. 1993.

Unable to speak after a hurricane kills her parents, thirteen-year-old Alyssa struggles to commmunicate with her grandfather in the midst of another killer storm.
Y Fiction

Harris, Rosemary. The Moon in the Cloud. 1968.

A young animal trainer in Egypt finds himself linked with a strange project: collect two of every kind of animal, because old Noah expects a lot of rain.
Y Fiction

Hesse, Karen. Out of the Dust. 1997.

Dust storms are only some of the hardships on the Oklahoma farm where Billie Jo and her family struggle to survive the Great Depression.
Y Fiction

Hoover, H. M. The Rains of Eridan. 1977.

No human has ever seen the rainy season on Eridan, but when it finally comes, they learn the secret of the mummified creatures found in a cave on the planet.
Y Science Fiction

Houston, James. Frozen Fire: A Tale of Courage. 1977.

Two boys brave an Arctic storm, searching for a geologist and a helicopter pilot who were lost when the blizzard set in.
Y Fiction

Nelson, Theresa. Devil Storm. 1987.

Walter and Emily befriend Tom the Tramp, who predicts the Great Storm of 1900 and later becomes a hero during the storm which hits Texas and kills 6,000 people.
Y Fiction

Ransome, Arthur. Winter Holiday. 1933.

A wonderful winter vacation culminates in a sledge ride up a frozen lake during an enormous snowstorm, as the intrepid Dick and Dorothea race against the Walker (Swallows) and Blackett (Amazons) families.
Y Fiction

Ruckman, Ivy. Night of the Twisters. 1986.

A boy and his family live through a night of disaster in Grand Island, Nebraska.
Y Fiction

Taylor, Theodore. Teetoncey. 1974.

When a terrible storm at sea wrecks a ship off the Outer Banks of North Carolina in 1898, Ben helps rescue the lone survivor, a young girl who cannot or will not speak.
Y Fiction

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FOLKTALES

Ada, Alma Flora. Mediopollito=Half-Chicken: A New Version of a Traditional Story. 1995.

A folktale explaining the rooster on a weathervane which moves in the direction of the wind.
J 398.2 Ad

Bishop, Gavin. Maui and the Sun: A Maori Tale. 1996.

A trickster uses his power to slow down the sun.
J 398.2 Bi

Devlin, Harry. Harry Devlin’s Tales of Thunder and Lightning. 1975.

Nature’s weather is explained through fifteen folktales.
J 398.2 De

Faulkner, William. Brer Tiger and the Big Wind. 1995.

Greedy Brer Tiger is taught a lesson by Brer Rabbit.
J 398.208 Fa

Felton, Harold W. True Tall Tales of Stormalong: Sailor of the Seven Seas. 1968.

This seaman’s life is told with many tall tales.
J 398.2 Fe

Kellogg, Steven. Sally Ann Thunder Ann Whirlwind Crockett: A Tall Tale. 1995.

Sally Ann, wife of Davy Crockett is afraid of nothing even when Mike Fink tries to frighten her.
J 398.22 Ke

Mayo, Gretchen. Earthmaker’s Tales: North American Indian Stories about Earth Happenings. 1989.

Native American tales of the origins of weather such as thunder, lightning and tornadoes.
J 398.26 Ma

Milord, Susan. Tales of the Shimmering Sky: Ten Global Folktales with Activities. 1996.

Activities and folktales relating to weather, seasons, planets and stars.
J 398.26 Mi

San Souci, Robert D. The Snow Wife. 1993.

A Japanese woodcutter loses his wife when he describes his encounter with a frightening snow woman and must make a dangerous journey to win her back.
J 398.21 Sa

Wolfson, Margaret Olivia. Marriage of the Rain Goddess: A South African Myth. 1996.

The Rain Goddess chooses a mortal for her husband in this Zulu myth.
J 398.2 Wo

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NONFICTION

Branley, Franklyn M. Down Comes the Rain. 1997.

This title from the Let’s-Read-and-Find-Out-Science series simply explains the rain.
J 551.57

Cohn, Myra Livingston. Sky Songs. 1984.

Poems about the sky and the weather
J 811 Li

Cole, Joanna. The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane. 1995.

Take the ride of your life on this educational journey.
J 551.55 Co

Cosgrove, Brian. Weather. 1991.

One of the highly illustrated titles in the Eyewitness series
J 551.55 Co

Hiscock, Bruce. The Big Storm. 1993.

This book tracks a devastating storm across the entire country as it moves from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
J 551.55 Hi

Kahl, Jonathan D.W. Weather Watch: Forecasting the Weather. 1996.

Everyone watches the weather reports on television. But how do the forecasters know what’s coming?
J 551.63 Ka

Lauber, Patricia. Hurricanes: Earth’s Mightiest Storms. 1996.

This book illustrates how hurricanes are formed as well as the destruction they cause.
J 551.552 La

Llewellyn, Claire. Wild, Wet and Windy. 1997.

Describes various weather patterns and their effect on people and animals
J 551.5 Li

Simon, Seymour. Lightning. 1997.

Color photography at its best.
J 551.563 Si

Simon, Seymour. Storms. 1989.

Vivid photographs illustrate nature’s temper tantrums.
J 551.55 Si Reading Rainbow

Arrangement and original material copyright © 1998 Ann Arbor District Library. This list may be copied and distributed without requesting permission, so long as this notice remains attached and appropriate credit to the compilers is given.