•  Title: Hurricane & Tornado
  
•  Author: Jack Challoner
  
• Age Range: 8 - 12 years
• Grade Level: 3 - 7
• Series: DK Eyewitness Books
• Hardcover: 72 pages
• Publisher: DK CHILDREN (August 9, 2004)
• Language: English
                       -Amazon Review  

This book gives a wide coverage on not only Hurricanes and Tornadoes, but many other natural disasters as well. Flash floods, droughts, blizzards, and landslides are a few other topics covered. This book includes an: "Amazing facts" section, "Questions and Answers" section, a "Timeline" section, and a "Find out more" section in addiction the glossary, index, and acknowledgments sections found in most books. Because I chose a topic for my last entry on something I knew nothing about, I chose this week to focus on something that I did know a little about.

My Review:

This book is full of information. So much information it was hard for me to believe. The text itself is only half of the information of the book, if that. There is so much information gained from reading the detailed captions that go with each photograph and illustration. I thought I knew a lot about weather, but I knew almost nothing about the history of early forecasting, which is the first section of the book. There were some fascinating instruments developed prior to Benjamin Franklin's kite experiment. Another section taught me how much I did not know about hail. Did you know that there is actually a "Hail Alley" in the U.S.? I mean, we've all heard about the "Tornado Alley", but I've never heard of this "Hail Alley" term. Apparently, hail creates millions in crop damage each year.
Besides all of the textual information I learned, the photographs found in the book are captivating and illuminating. Certain pieces of information are just too hard to learn without visualization. One example of this would be the development of a supercell. Without the diagrams and photographs, I never would have known what a supercell was merely from the text.
  One thing that I noticed was missing was a bibliography. Looking at the acknowledgements section, I saw that most of the recognition was for the photography found within the book-not the knowledge. So, after realizing there was no bibliography, I looked for an "About the Author" page. No go. I know that this DK series is very popular and is a reputable company, but I still think that the author's credentials should be in the book, as well as a bibliography section.
Overall, I would recommend this book for kids to read if they are interested in extreme weather. There is a "Useful Website" section in the back of the book that would definitely help kids out to further their knowledge on the subject.