Friday Focus-Hurricane Edition

Welcome to the first edition of the Friday Focus, a weekly feature where I will highlight some books and other resources you may want to share with your child. For this first focus, I intended to feature books on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to celebrate the opening of the memorial here in Washington, DC. However, as most of the festivities have been postponed, I will hold those resources until the celebration is rescheduled. Instead, I will share some books and websites about the reason for the postponement--hurricanes!

Please note that some of these resources depict fairly extreme effects of hurricanes, far more devastating than we are likely to see here in our region. Please preview before sharing with your child-you know him or her best!

Picture Books

The Sea, the Storm and the Mangrove Tangle by Lynne Cherry *

Follow a seed as it falls from the branch of a mangrove tree, makes its way to an island and grows to a tree itself--then serves as a shelter for fish and animals during a hurricane. This book has drawings of the storm but does not show upsetting images of the aftermath.

Two Bobbies: a True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival by Kirby Larson *

This sweet tale of a dog and cat who relied on each other to survive the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is guaranteed to make you sniffle a bit. Based on a true story, this book shows the devastation of New Orleans post-Katrina but offers a happy ending. This was one of our Principal's Book of the Month selections last year.

Nonfiction

Hurricanes! by Gail Gibbons

The ever-informative Gail Gibbons describes how hurricanes are formed and named, and what to do if one is headed your way.

Hurricane Hunters! by Chris L. Demarest *

Go inside a hurricane with the men and women of the Air Force special reconnaissance squadron, who are tasked with collecting information about the storm. This book talks about what happens before the storm makes landfall, so while it describes preparing for the storm there are no images of destruction.

The Magic School Bus Inside a Hurricane by Joanna Cole

The intrepid Ms. Frizzle teaches science as only she can-by taking her class inside a hurricane to learn what makes these huge storms tick!

Howling Hurricanes by Louise and Richard Spilsbury *

This book is perfect for older students who want to know what a hurricane is and how it works. It also discusses what happens after a hurricane-who helps and how people get back on their feet. There are photographs of preparations for the storm as well as the aftermath, and one particularly amusing photo showing that the flamingos at the Miami Zoo are housed inside a bathroom to keep them safe during the storm.

Websites

Hurricanes-fema.gov

This website for kids from FEMA gives all of the basic facts about hurricanes and hurricane preparedness, as well as fun facts about canine heroes of past hurricanes and quizzes to test hurricane knowledge.

Hurricane Storm Science - The Miami Museum of Science

This interactive website takes kids inside a hurricane. You may want to discuss with your child that Miami gets hit much harder by hurricanes than our region.

Animated Hurricane Guide - CBBC

This animated presentation from Children's BBC clearly shows how hurricanes are formed. The last slide allows you to see the likely effects of a hurricane based on its category rating.

Resources marked with a * are available in the Maury Library for checkout. If it's not marked with a star, we'd love to have it! Find out how you can donate those books to the library by emailing Ms. Sweeney.