Weather Books

I loved this book as a kid and now own it and read it to my kids. I love everything about it (the pictures and the story).

This is an all around great book! We have loved reading this book over and over. It brings a smile to your face and lifts you up! As authors ourselves, it is inspirational to see books written by other authors.
Darla, Sydney and Jimmy Batchler

Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs

This book has been one of my favorite children's book since I was young. Today i find it as an inspiration that a book can stay with a child throughout their entire life.

This book is my proclaimed favorite book of all my childhood. I read this book so much that I had to buy a replacement for it when I was 18 because the original was falling apart. I cannot wait for the birth of my daughter so I can read to her about the silly story of a town that receives its food from the sky until the weather makes a turn for the worse. The pictures still crack me up, and the detail is quite nice. As I grew older I searched for different foods and hidden details in the illustrations. I always liked the length of this book, because most bedtime stories seemed too short for me. I grew up an avid reader from a family with little time or money to keep me occupied, getting my amusement from books.

I can't believe this book has 5 stars. . I'm so confused. I bought this book for my kids for Christmas after reading the rave reviews...and I can't express how completely disappointed I am. Rather than being "whimsical" the book was more "disturbing" with a touch of "nauseating". After I read this book to my six year old she offered to take it to her school and donate it to the school library. . . that oughta tell you something.

I absolutely love this book. You will not be disappointed. It goes beyond the average pop up book. Things actually come up and off of the page. Its really quite a piece of art.

Beautiful and creative masterpiece! A real keepsake! Sabuda has created a magical, fairytale world. Something beautiful on each page and twinkling lights on the final page.

This is a great book. I wish I could find another battery for the back because mine is out and I can't find one.

i am a serious collector of robert sabuda's pop-up books!! i found a hidden surprise within the pages, that was unexpected and delightful. mr. sabuda's imagination is expansive. this book is amongst my favorites!! you will enjoy this book. it is well worth the price.

"Winter's Tale" is a spectacular and original pop-up story. The themes are actually very suitable as an addition to the Christmas tree decorations. We will be keeping "Winter's Tale" under the tree. I and my sister will have the fun of changing all the six scenes - a different page for each day.

We like pop-up books. Our most favorite pop-up story is Cinderella: A Pop-Up Fairy Tale by Matthew Reinhart. We had it under the Christmas tree last year. My recommendation for older kids is Why Some Cats are Rascals, Book 2 - a touching, lovely story about family of cats and their incredible adventures.

Exellent book on snowflakes. Great photos and educational info on the formation , etc. This book makes a great gift.

I have read this book quite many years ago, or just two, and I can honestly say it's beautiful in the most breath-taking way. The photographs are seriously impressive and I don't think you've ever seen snowflakes quite like that. The text is great as well and you get to learn a lot of things about snowflakes.

Don't think this book would "steal" the mystery of snowflakes, as with everything in life, the more questions are answered, the more questions. So with this book.

I recommend it to anyone interested in snow and snowflakes in particular. It would make a wonderful gift, also. I can't recommend this book enough.

This handsome book should motivate the reader to appreciate -- perhaps even delight in -- every snowfall. The photos are superb; they are often curiously interesting and always a visual feast. Libbrecht provides an easy to understand description of the formation of snow crystals (not all of them are flakes, he points out.) The book will encourage some readers to want more, and Libbrecht provides a companion volume -- a Field Guide -- for that purpose. This is more than a mere coffee-table volume. Libbrecht makes the physics behind the snow crystals not only understandable, but charming. Libbrecht uses clear prose without "dumbing down" the science. Now, if Libbrecht will only produce another volume with 3D or stereo views...!

The photos in this book are breathtaking! This makes a great gift for a hard to buy for person. I bought it for my father and he loves it!

Well written, with unparalleled photos of snow crystals. The book contains accurate physics, nice insights into snow crystal morphology and growth and is at a level that will engage almost everyone. Enough information here for a physicist to enjoy the book, but presented in a way that will not intimidate the layman. Just gazing at the pictures of the snowflakes will inspire wonder at the beauty of these little ephemeral creations, and is an antidote for frazzled nerves any time of the day, in any season. I've bought several to give away and one for myself, and it probably won't be the last one.

The reviewer below who thought the author doesn't give enough credit to God for the amazing design of the snowflake, may be a little too demanding. Perhaps the author thought the little crystals speak for themselves, and lets the reader draw his own conclusions. I can't look at these beautiful pictures without marveling at a God who is so creative He doesn't "know when to quit"!

I will be one of the few dissenting opinions here. While the author certainly lets us into his life with honestly and humor, the fact that nearly of his pets treat him and his wife with what appears to be contempt makes this entire book seem like 3 hours of looking at a car wreck. And while a normal, well-adjusted life wouldnt make an interesting book, I lost sympathy for the author and his wife when some of their pets deaths were due to lack of proper maintenance of their housing. In addition they seem to have some sort of weird co-dependency with the most abusive animals such as the older parrots, enduring much pain for little return and yet insisting on always replacing them so the level of abuse stays the same, while treating the few animals that actually return love on a regular basis as somehow less important.

If you want to spend three or more hours looking at car wreck then buy this book.

I'm not normally a nonfiction reader, but Bob Tarte's Fowl Weather is a great book to break away from the fiction habit. This book will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will restore your faith in the human race to know there are people out there (besides yourself) that truly care about, and nourish, God's creatures. Bob Tarte and his wife, Linda, go above and beyond in their nurturing of wild, and not so wild, animals. Bob relates his adventures with them in a funny, honest and totally involving manner. From Moobie, the white, picky cat, (who I loved) to Stanley Sue, the endearing parrot, to Bertie, the bunny, Bob writes about all of his pets with intelligence, humor and obvious affection. - Lisa, the Librarian

I thought Enslaved by Ducks was wonderful. I didn't see how a sequel could match it. But Tarte has come through with something just as funny if not more so. I could barely go to sleep at night worrying about how he was going to resolve his next dilemma. What else could go wrong? Apparently, anything and everything. Tarte's writing is exceptional. I truly think he could find a discarded potato chip bag on the side of the road and create a page-turning story out of it. NPR recently reviewed this book in their "Under the Radar" feature on their website.

Whether Bob was out standing in his field, in the barn, out by the river or in the house he gave me hysterical laughter every time I opened this book. A true tale of an animal loving guy, woven within a true story about real life. It truly inspires! Highly recommended (as well as Enslaved by Ducks)

I finished reading this book several days ago, but I had to recover somewhat from the death of not only one of Bob Tarte's favorite pets, but a favorite of his readers as well, in order to review it.

The final scene of the book, when a "real" goodby is said to this wonderful being, rather than a call from a vet, is one of the most moving I have read in literature. I dare you not to cry when you read it.

Of course this book is more serious than Enslaved by Ducks because difficulties arise, as they do from time to time in life, in bundles. But still there are so many moments when one is roused to hilarious laughter that they are countless.

As a Southern Californian, I found life in rural Michigan to be fascinating. I guess I never thought about Michigan, never having been there, as being more than a state with a lake, enormous auto manufacturing plants, and Detroit where social problems come to light from time to time in newspaper headlines. Interesting too to know what a Michigan winter is like. In short, I feel almost as if I have travelled there.

But above all there is the wonderful and glorious parade of natural life spread out like a banquet for the reader to admire, revere and become acquainted with. Not only do they live with a highly skilled writer, they live with two people who love them unquestionably a great deal.

It's been a wonderful journey reading these two books. Unforgettable, really!

Recommended reading for every adult and teen. I can't stress strongly enough that this should be read along with "Under a Green Sky" and "Hell and High Water." These books are partly about climate change and the effect of human activities. Even if we act now, the "express train" to a climate hostile to human life takes a long time to slow and may soon be unable to reverse. Unfortunately, "politics as usual" generally lack a sense of urgency. Too little may truly be too late ....

"I have been on this beat for eighteen years now. The more I learn, the more I go see for myself, and the more I question scientists, the more scared I get."
-Fred Pearce

If this were what this book were about I wouldn't bother with it. But Pearce doesn't compromise science with politics. Pearce's alarmist comment is one that is set aside for the remainder of the book as he proceeds to give us the latest research in an evolving field. Skeptics will argue that no perspective is included. The difficulty is that everything we do has a purpose. When we build a city at a certain location we do so with reason. If we choose to build a farm the location is chosen with specific reason. The decisions we make are based on what we know of climate and environment in its relatively stable state - which is already limited. Human induced (anthropogenic) climate change will always disrupt the stable state - will also disrupt the purposes chosen for which we base our engineering decisions - and ultimately leave us without fulfillment of basic needs. Because of this, the more forthright skeptics can only play the role of devil's advocate while other skeptics rely on outright deception. In a world of competitive issues the attention that climate change receives is a function of its competition with every other issue. I believe calls for concern without skeptic perspective are most appropriate.

Pearce opens with historical and scientific briefings. Our knowledge of greenhouse gases is not new. It is rooted in physics that is verified. Innumerable records are being broken in weather recently. From here Pearce moves to bigger problems. The ocean conveyor may stop. Enormous climate changes appear to have been triggered with immediacy in the past. Large changes in climatic stability have been recorded with changes in the pulse stream of the sun that would only increase vulnerability to change.

I like "With Speed and Violence" for moving quickly and comprehensively between a number of topics. It is the most appropriate book on climate change for 2007.

The book is the best out of about a dozen that I've read recently on global warming. His vignettes, from traveling around the world to gather the news on the latest developments in climate science, are captivating. The book is very up-to-date on the science, and explains many of the crucial aspects of Earth that climate scientists don't yet understand well.

The book is also scary, because most of these things that we don't understand well--such as how ice sheets break up, or how melting permafrost releases large amounts of greenhouse gases--suggest that most assessments, such as IPCC's, are significantly underestimating the amount of change that global warming will reap. But until the scientists that Pearce talks to can sort things out, it's hard to know how bad it might get.

There is a lot out there on global warming and climate change. With Speed and Violence adds the aspect of urgency. Knowing that events could happen quickly jerks us from our complacency to the reality of the coming changes. A quick and absorbing read.

The reason I became a climate change scientist is because of what I learned about climate tipping points. Until recently, I was an environmental scientist specializing in pollution prevention of toxic waste. Then I began to study global warming and climate change issues, and what I discovered about climate change tipping points was enough to cause me to change careers rather abruptly. For the earth to continue to be inhabitable, we must do all we can to lower greenhouse gas emissions to avoid tipping the planet into a vicious cycle of becoming warmer and warmer, with no cooling relief possible for thousands, if not millions of years. This book does an excellent job of describing what a climate tipping point is, and what will most likely happen unless we take action now.

The earth has undergone several drastic climate changes in the past, without any help from humanity, but this time around it looks like humans are the ones forcing the climate to become progressively warmer, and at a rate much faster than the earth and humanity can easily adapt to. Unless we can lower greenhouse gas emissions within the next generation, we must go to Plan B and start learning how to adapt to a drastically different, and far less comfortable world, one with flooded coastal cities, mega-droughts, and catastrophic crop failure. Let's hope that the leaders start to trust scientists on this subject, because all the scientists I know have a lot less reason to fabricate evidence than the typical business that sells coal, gasoline, cars, and electrical power, and would love to continue making large profits without having to change the way they do business.

In true form this book was a wonderful read, most difficult to put down.
Action all the way, as the books say you'll never view the weather as before, makes you wonder!! The next book is a must read!!

Love this whole series. This author is just great. Rachel Caine came highly recommended by Jim Buthcher, author of the Dresden Files. If you've read any of her Weather Warden series, you just have to read Book 4 to keep up with the characters and find out what happens to them.

Rachel Caine's 4th entry in the Weather Warden series is a page-turner deluxe, and a highly enjoyable way to spend a few hours. The scenes depicting Joanne's job at the TV station make this book well worth your time, even if you were to skip over the magic, romance, intrigue, and humor. One of the things that makes this such a good series is the rich cast of supporting characters, added to in this book with the addition of Joanne's sister. This is almost becoming as humorous a series as Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum's series!

I have been putting off writing this review since February. Why? I didn't think I could put into words how amazing and fantastic this book truly is. It wipes the floor with the three previous Weather Warden books, which is a feat in itself as those books are among the best ever written. Windfall is even better.

But now I'm finally writing the review. Expect it to be rambling and full of me gushing about how much I love this series and this book in particular.

I love Windfall so much, I've borrowed it from the library four times in succession, and even got an overdue fine because I didn't want to take it back. The books aren't available to buy here, so I have to rely on the library. But it's worth the fines and the borrowing since the book is so damned good.

If you've read the other reviews, you'll know the basic plot - Joanne has moved back to her hometown of Florida after quitting the Wardens, has a new job as a TV weather girl at a local station, and is trying to find a solution to her problem. What's her problem? Her Djinn lover David is draining her power. In Chill Factor, he was turned Ifrit, and is slowly wasting away to full Ifrit state. On top of this, Jo has a police officer from the Las Vegas police department on her case (he wants information about his dead partner Quinn from Chill Factor), master Djinn Jonathan has given her an ultimatum - heal David or else, her older sister Sarah turns up homeless and wanting to shack up with Jo (and meets a "cute British guy" who is not what he seems), Jo is still pregnant with a Djinn child forced onto her by David and she is forced to wear stupid foam outfits at her job and is continually hit on her by her sleazy weatherman co-star.

All these plot elements add up to one fantastic story - and this is only the tip of the iceberg. This all escalates into something much larger as the book goes on. It seems like too many storylines to follow at once but it's all woven together easily and will keep you riveted.

On the character side of the things - all the favourites are still around. I was glad to see that Lewis still had a major part in this story, he's one of my favourites. I'm also glad Rahel is still in it, and I'm surprised at how much I like Jonathan (I hated him in Heat Stroke & Chill Factor). The new characters are great too - even though Jo's sister Sarah is annoying, it's hard to hate her. Cherise, Jo's sidekick in weather presenting hell is one of the best new characters introduced to the book in ages! She's cute, perky and hilarious. Her and Jo's banter lightens the more darker serious tone of the book (I'm so glad she's going to be in Firestorm!). Eamon, otherwise known as "cute British guy" (a name given to him by Jo and Cherise) is a two dimensional character who is very very interesting. What disappointed me is that Marion was left out of this installment, and that they brought Kevin back. Kevin REALLY annoys me, he's so tiresome.

Some scenes of Windfall left me in tears - especially most of the (limited unfortunately) scenes with Jo and David. I'm a David fan, so to see him transform into something horrible is just awful - their relationship is heartbreaking and one scene near the end of the book had me crying. I'm kind of worried that it's over for them now, but we'll find out in Firestorm. This book is much darker and much more serious then the previous books, and is full of action. It's non-stop, there's no boring scenes. The humour is still present - most of Jo and Cherise's adventures at their job are amusing, and the "great mall expedition of 2003" bit had me laughing.

Well, I did ramble and say how much I loved this book. I truly do. It's the best of the series (maybe to be surpassed by Firestorm?), and Rachel Caine continues to impress me with her writing skills. The Weather Wardens are my favourite book series of all time, and Windfall definitely is one of the best books I've ever read. You absolutely need to read the previous books before cracking into this one, they provide backstory for the events of this one.

I'm eagerly anticipating Firestorm (September 5th!), and more from our fiesty heroine Jo. Well done Rachel Caine!

This book is the cause of great tiredness today - I tried to stop reading it at 11pm last night when wanting to go to sleep but it had become so exciting that I couldn't sleep and had to pick it up again, finally finishing it at 1am.

Book 4 of this excellent series is slightly different in that some time has passed since the end of book 3, rather than it being a non-stop roller-coaster ride of Joanne's life. She's now working as a sidekick on a weather channel, living in a nondescript flat and not using her weather powers at all to prevent a power lobotomy. David, her seriously weakened lover/Djinn, has to spend almost all of his time in the bottle as he's draining her powers and is on the verge of becoming an Ifrit.

This story focuses rather more on Joanne and how she deals with different situations without using her powers. The usual list of characters are there - Lewis, Jonathan, Paul, Rahel, Alice, David and Ashan, but we also meet her sister, her sister's new boyfriend and a policeman who was a former partner of Quinn's.

There's a kind of subtext in this book about good and evil - yes, Quinn was evil but he also had some good. Another character who appears good turns out to be evil, but he also has some redeeming features. Although overall this series might come across as a battle between good and evil that's not always the case - yes, the wardens are manipulating the weather to prevent loss of life and damage through natural causes, but we learned in the last book that the Ma'at believe that the wardens have actually increased the problems from the weather due to their interference. We learn more about this at the end of the book as we discover the underlying reason that things are going wrong.

The romance between David and Joanne is still there in this book, as is the little surprise that David left for Joanne in the last book, but the story focuses more directly on Joanne. When the book finished I found myself breathless, waiting for what was coming next (I have several more months to wait for it to be published, unfortunately) but also slightly disappointed in the direction Rachel Caine had taken with a couple of the main characters. I shall wait and see how the follow-up pans out and if she brings these new threads into the story in a satisfactory way. Somehow I think she well, she hasn't let me down so far.

Overall this is a very good book; the dialogue is perhaps a little less sparkling than normal, but there's plenty of action and the characters keep growing, including Djinn who are so difficult to understand, Jonathan being the most impenetrable of them all. I recommend this series highly, although I think it's probably best to read them in order.

One may feel a sense of gloom and doom as winter closes in. But Ken Libbrecht shows us the astounding beauty that only comes in winter -- in the intricate designs of snowflakes. Libbrecht's exquisite photographs of snowflakes have appeared in a number of books, and have been honored by the U.S. Post Office on postage stamps. This little book is a wonder. It show a miniature miracle of creation in each unique snowflake. And with each picture come captions discussing the science behind their beauty, as well as literary quotes relating to snow and nature. With no two exactly alike among the billions that fall, snowflakes are a magically beautiful picture of the infinity of the Creator.

My wife loves snowflakes and I bought her this book for Christmas. I was disappointed in the book, not in the quality of the images, but in their relative scarcity. For the money, I would have expected more book and certainly more photos. The pictures are beautiful and we both love them, but this is simply a case of too much money for too little book.

Saw this little book and was really impressed. Gave it to my wife for Christmas...and she LOVES it.

The photos are spectacular and the little sayings/poems suit it very well.

WONDERFUL!

This is a beautiful little book containing magnified pictures of real snowflakes. It is a chance to marvel at God's creation.

Very beautiful book. I paired it with a crystal snowflake as a gift and the receiver loved it.

I originally read this series years ago. They have a great sense of adventure and a fast paced reading style. LOVE THEM!! Get all three in the series!

I love this book, i read this one forst one first not knowing that it was the last one in a trilogy. This is the classic story of misunderstood love. Rosie loves Raider, but thinks he loves someone else. He askes her to marry him on the excuse that he wants to make sure she is safe. Now Raider is Half Mad! will love triumph over all, or will she go back to a quiet life without anyone to love her? Guess you'll have to read to find out! :-)

I loved this book! It was the best out of the three and when I was done I found myself wanting a relationship (not all the hard times they had) like Rosie and Raider had. it really ties together everything and you can't help but be happy at the end of the book for Rosie and Raider.

I loved this series. I had to buy it. I have read them over and over again. I am so hooked on them. The perfect romance and mystery book. The first time reading it, I was taken by
surprise by the cool ending. I LOVE IT!!

i bought the 2nd book by chance at a used-book store, i gave it to my daughter, and she loved it, soon we after, we went to the library and requested the 1st and 3rd books, funny we fought over who got to read what first. it was SOOOOO good, since then both me and my daughter have read the entire trilogy more than once. i wish some holywood hot shots would get a wind of this and make a movie, gotta love it :)

I wish this book had been available when I began storm chasing in 1982. It would have saved me countless hours of frustration and thousands of miles of trying to observe the wrong storms in the wrong place. Tim has expertly explained the basic details of making your own severe weather forecast which, in my own opinion, is most of what good ethical storm chasing is about. His writing is very readable yet is also technical enough to delve into more advanced facets of forecasting and, if your forecast verifies, how to manage yourself once in the field. As an added bonus, much of the book is dedicated as a "tour book" to many areas of the great plains of the USA. While this may seem odd to some, this is quite valuable since many (and I do mean MANY) hours spent on the road during a chase are in "down time", waiting for storms to form or finding hours to fill once the cap decides to dominate. Overall, I cannot highly recommend this book enough. Tim's other books are equally as valuable and are a welcome steroid injection to the intellect of anyone who is interested in the atmospheric sciences.

A fairly comprehensive guide to introductory storm chasing. A little more info on the forecasting would have been good, though much of it is covered in Vasquez's Weather Forecasting Handbook. After a one-week storm tour with Silver Lining Tours in 2003, this book really helped me to make sense of the things that I saw and springboarded me on a year of research so that I will be better prepared for my 2004 storm chase with SLT. The tips that were included gave me the goal of trying to see something other than a tornado (which we did not see on the tour last year). It made me realize the beauty of other storm structures to the point where now I just take delight in sitting and watching cumulus clouds rise and fade. Thank you, Tim Vasquez, for helping to ensure that this year's chase will be even more fulfilling than last year's!

I've now bought three copies and given two to friends. Tim knows storms and he knows the ins and outs of storm chasing. I just wish he'd writtin it before I started chasing so I didn't have to learn the hard way. This is a must for anyone interested in chasing. From forecasting to food, with information on equipment, chase partners, safety, and things to do when the weather's good, this book is a great resource. It will be in my bag on my next chase.

This is an excellent guide for those entering into the hobby of storm chasing. As anyone just starting out quickly realizes, storm chasing isn't anywhere near as simple as pointing your car towards dark skies and driving in a straight line. :) This book explains how chase safely, how to increase your chances of actually catching a good storm, and what tools work best at getting you where you need to go.

The book consists of two main sections. The first section is devoted to storm chasing, divided up into chapters about saftey, methodology, forcasting (this chapter will only make you want to purchase Tim's other book, which is devoted entirely to forcasting), and equipment. The second section is more or less a list of interesting things to do and places to see when waiting for something interesting to happen happen in the sky. This may seem like something that would be intuitive, but wait until it's you who're stuck out in the middle of rural Kansas at 10AM waiting for the cap to break. Tim even gives you GPS coordinates, so you can't loose.

Almost any chaser even half-way involved in chasing has heard of Tim Vasquez. He's had tons of experience with both chasing and writing -- many years ago, he published a regular little rag called "Storm Track", which was a perodic newsletter/magazine. Eventually, stormtrack moved to the internet ... . It was always a great source for chaser info.

I'd reccomend this book to anyone who is thinking of getting into chasing, and for a lot of people who already are. Chasing is one of those hobbies in which knowing more not only increases your success, it decreases the odds that you'll get yourself killed or, worse, kill someone else. This book gives you a lot of good information in a very understandable format.

This book was really great! It not only had good information on storm structure and forecasting, the traveling section was excellent! It made me appreciate chasing much more!

Love it! Love it! Love it! This little book is a pop-up treat!
I was very surprised at how pretty a bunch of white pop-ups could be.
I was really pleased with this book, & so were my young granddaughters.
Money well spent.

We collect these pop-up books and continue to be amazed at the skill and talent it must take to create them. This mini pop-up is a treasure. You can pick it up time after time and find something new. It is a joy to share with others. These are definitely 'adult' that would not stand up to little hands, but can be shared with the child one-on-one. Everything we have gotten from Robert Sabuda has been amazing!

This is a beautiful book with wintry scenes for small folks with someone to help them read it -- without ripping it apart. I purchased it for my toddler grandson. Only caveat, it's not the only book of its type, so check before buying that a similar book is not already owned.

I'm a snow deprived and displaced Yankee living in Florida.

Combine my love of snow and pop-ups (and Mr. Sabuda), and I found this lovely little book which I bought as a gift. It is a small book, but one that will be read and re-read each winter, and the pop-ups are enchanting
by themselves.

A small, simple, and simply lovely little volume, and when you open it up,
you have winter and good cheer.

Highly recommended.

[...]

We purchased and gave over 300 of this delightful book at Christmas this year ... Sabuda is a master at evoking squeals of delight and gasps of wonder at extraordinarily intricate creations that literally do "pop" off the page! Don't miss ANY of his editions ... this is just one more in a library of wonders!