Hurricanes

From the Series Disaster Zone

In Hurricanes, early fluent readers learn about the conditions that turn a thunderstorm into a full-blown hurricane. Vibrant, full-color photos and carefully leveled text will engage young readers as they learn about the deadliest hurricanes and how to stay safe in hurricane conditions.

An infographic illustrates where hurricanes most often form, and an activity offers kids an opportunity to extend discovery. Children can learn more about hurricanes using our safe search engine that provides relevant, age-appropriate websites. Hurricanes also features reading tips for teachers and parents, a table of contents, a glossary, and an index.

Hurricanes is part of Jump!’s Disaster Zone series.

Format List Price Library Price Qty
978-1-62031-221-6
$26.99 $18.95
978-1-62496-308-7
$35.00 $26.25
300406B
$31.14 $23.95
Interest Level Grade 2 - Grade 5
Reading Level Grade 2
Category Beginning Readers, STEM
Subject STEM
Copyright 2016
Publisher Jump!
Imprint Pogo Books
Language English
Number of Pages 24
Publication Date 2015-08-01
BISACS JNF051160, JNF037080, JNF051080
Dewey 551.55
Graphics Full-color photographs
Dimensions 7.5 x 9
Lexile 560
Guided Reading Level J
ATOS Reading Level 2.9
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 176903
Accelerated Reader® Points 0.5
Features Glossary of key words, Index, and Table of contents

Reviews

Series Made Simple

These early readers supply basic overviews of natural disasters. Each volume starts with a “You Are There” scenario to engage interest by describing a specific event. Meister then offers simple explanations of why and where such disasters are most likely to take place and offers some examples of the most deadly occurrences. She concludes with a hands-on activity such as making a small landslide on loose dirt or sloshing corn flakes in milk to simulate tectonic plate movement. Large photos plus maps and fact boxes usually correlate well with the text. However, the photo of children scooping water seems incongruous next to a paragraph about Ethiopia’s drought, and the world drought map includes only a few areas in the United States. VERDICT Well-designed introductory nonfiction about topics that will interest many students, especially beginning readers.

NSTA Recommends

I read and reviewed the Disaster Zone series, which included separate books for hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards. droughts, earthquakes, etc. I thoroughly enjoyed all of these books, probably most of all because of the incredible photography and illustrations/infographics. Each book in the series started with a section guiding parents and teachers through introducing nonfiction to their young children. Succinctly in 3–4 chapters, the disaster was described, and examples were given from around the world and in the United States. Whether longest drought or deadliest tornado, the books gave good information paired with dramatic photos. Each book had an end section containing an index and glossary, and a “try this” section which will help any teacher do a mini science lab in the class. I found the science behind the books to be accurate and I loved the way the author tied in real disasters. The books are also aligned with Common Core (reading informational texts) and NGSS (Physical Sciences/Earth and Space). Frankly, were informational texts as fun to read in my day, I’d have bought all of the different series from this author.

Author: Cari Meister