Weather Books

I read this book as a bedtime story for my young son. The text flows nicely and the pictures are soothing and natural. He usually asks to read it again when we're finished, sometimes a third time. I think he has been dreaming about being in the desert in the pictures.

This book has very good illustrations of the typical American desert animals (gila monster, jackrabbit, etc.) My six-year old has requested it every night for the past week. I tried it out on a cub scout group yesterday, and they were rapt at attention. Their favorite is "find the hidden animal." I recommend it.

This is such a great book for young children. My son loved the story and was so excited to turn the page to see what was going to happen next. He now wants to go search for his own "diamond" next time it snows!

When Mole emerges from his hole one day, the woodland is covered in snow. Even more marvelous is the magical "diamond" that appears at the base of a tree. It is beautiful and shiny, and it changes shape in his paws. He can't wait to show it to his friends!

Jonathon Emmett's gentle story is sure to delight young children, especially during the winter months when (if!) there is snow on the ground. Adults will be charmed by the simple fascination with one of nature's special gifts. Sweet woodland illustrations by Vanessa Cabban will further endear this book to children and "designated readers."

DIAMOND IN THE SNOW is a darling picture book that should find a cherished spot on family bookshelves everywhere.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
12/07/2006

I bought this book for my 9 year old son who is a Weather Channel Fanactic and weather in general. It is smaller sized so it is good for the car or suitcase and it's thick. Tons of information, charts, graphs and illustrations. I assumed by the colorful cover it was more for kids but its really for every age. My son is just pretty smart! :) This is a great book, most books by Dk pubishing have been very good books and well above expectation.

This book will give you simple basics about the world's weather, how to read it and what it is about. If you don't want great in depth detail but simple easy to understand information then this book will fill that gap.

Quentin Volcanos & other Natural Disasters

This book is called Volcanoes & Other Natural Disasters. This is an excellent book. It tells us about terrible events like,bushfires,and volcanoes.

There's volcanoes in Pompeii,Italy and Martinique,Caribbean. There's floods in the Yellow River of China. Earthquaks in San Francisco,California, and Libson,Portugal. Hurricanes in Long Island,New York. Avalanches in Yungay,Peru. Last,bushfires in Southern Australia.

They are all very dangerous events. They either kill,injure,or leave millions of people homeless. It tells us how to prevent them. Did you know that,children in Japan and California sleep flashlights next to their beds to save them in case of an earthquake?

This is an excellent book. I hope you read this book. If you want to be a weather reporter or a scientist,read this non-fiction book.

This reader is jam-packed with disaster stories and the science and geography that caused the event. My children love real stories above those that are made up. More school subjects are covered and History has become a bit more interesting. What more can I say but WOW!

Written in the same engaging readable style as his Sierra Stories series, the author recounts the Donner party saga from a weatherman's viewpoint. The result is a gripping "you are there" telling of the familiar tale, with an eye toward how the atmospheric conditions affected each twist in the story. You'll feel as if you had taken the journey with these hardy pioneers who traveled westward in search of a better life. Highly recommended reading.

Gary Noy, the Director of the Center for Sierra Nevada Studies at Sierra College in California has written a solid endorsment for Weathering the Storm. "This book is very, very good! I was impressed by the quality and extent of the research, written with a very engaging style. It is an excellent and much-needed addition to the Donner Party literature. I highly recommend it!"

I love this series for my English language learners. I teach content to 4th graders who are learning English and these books allow me to deliver the Social Studies curriculum at a reading level they can understand. I set it up as an independent work center and then review the pages with them as they compile them into a book. Wonderful even for my older students.

This book is a very good teacher for people of all ages. I like this book because it has step by step instructions to many pictures and drawings. Natalie Perry P.S I am doing this on my own.

Debra McArthur's book is well written and very well researched. She didn't just get her information from history books; she actually talked to people who lived through this trying time in American History.

The book was specifically written for an audience, ages 9-12, but I found it certainly held my interest. McArthur does not write down to her audience; she informs. Even though I was already somewhat familiar with this time period, she helped me see it through the eyes of the people who were there.

I was surprised, and pleased, that the people living through this stressful time made up jokes to ease their tension. ie. "Almost everyone heard about the farmer who was hit by a drop of rain and fainted from the shock. It took two buckets of sand thrown in his face to revive him" (54).

I am pleased to recommend this book for all ages.

Debra McArthur's book is very well written, and it certainly held my attention. Even though it is intended for readers in grade levels 9-12, readers of any age can enjoy learning about this trying time in the history of our country.

I found the quality of McArthur's research impressive. Her information didn't just come from history books. She talked to people who were there. Even though I was familiar with the story of the Dust Bowl, this book made me see it through the eyes of the people who lived it. I was amazed to find out that people actually made up jokes to help them cope. ie. "Why do crows fly backwards? Answer: To keep the dust out of their eyes."

I am happy to recommend this book to anyone, of any age.

The Early Universe provides an excellent introduction to the topics it covers, including the standard big bang cosmology, baryogenesis and inflation. I read Dodelson's Modern Cosmology before this text, and the two compliment each other. The Early Universe provides a more complete and physically intuitive description of the standard big bang cosmology, including the role of thermodynamics, nucleosynthesis and out-of-equilibrium dynamics. Because of the attention to the "background" dynamics, and also to baryogenesis, phase transitions, inflation, and other applications of high energy physics, one gets a better sense of the "bigger picture" with Kolb and Turner's text. On the other hand, The Early Universe lacks any technical discussion of metric perturbations and CMB analysis, which are important components of much current research. These are highly emphasized in Dodelson's text. For appropriate topics, I have found The Early Universe to be a very good reference.

To the publisher I would appreciate it if the publisher could produce an audio adaptation of this book. I would love to listen to this while I drive to work and to let my 16 month old son listen to it as a bedtime story. Arnold D Veness

In just about all the stories presented here we have some common elements - western US setting, characters down on their luck and sometimes a little rough, and usually a positive or reaffirming message despite the messy environment Hyde has created.

While no specific story stands out as grand art, all are good reads that show skill in creating characters and carrying a story forward in a short space of time. In too many short stories it seems like there's no point, that the whole thing was a college course exercise in creating a single scene. Or its the opposite extreme in which you've got all plot and no character to care about. Hyde somehow does the miraculous and pulls both off in just about every story here. And she does it all in a positive and life affirming way.

Far and away, I consider this her best work. This is perhaps not a popular view among Catherine Ryan Hyde fans, but her later work has gotten sloppy, especially in her last two books, "Electric God" and "Walter's Purple Heart" in which she presents us with unrealistic characters and situations. But that is simply not the case here.

If you've read any of Hyde's later books and you want more then I highly recommend "Earthquake Weather." You'll be pleasantly surprised that perhaps her best book ever is the one that's sadly out of print.

_Earthquake Weather_ is, at first read, a surprisingly calming collection of stories about people at violent points in their lives, choosing non-violent coping methods. I found myself pausing for a few minutes after each story to wonder if I would have been as graceful as Hyde's characters had I been in their situations. After more reflection, however, the book has a definite anger running through it, as if each protagonist is raising hands to the sky to ask "why?," quietly furious that the answer is not waiting there. Characters from all walks of life can be found in this collection, from an unlikely pair of secretive male lovers to a scared little boy and his best friend, the war veteran, to a guarded and needy recent divorcee and the unwilling subject in her revenge plot. This book is utterly involving and not unlike a long train trip, watching people out the window. Here, instead of just wondering, you actually find out what their lives are like.

Stanley Chagnon and his colleagues have written the best, and most comprehensive analysis of what really happened with the biggest climate event of the century, the 1997-1998 El Nino. What is unique about this book is that they carefully look at both the devastation that occured and the positive impacts from the mild winter -- fewer deaths from ice storms, more shopping when people went out in milder weather, less fuel oil. They also point out the places where the forecast worked, and where it had problems. As society gets more and more sensitive to weather events, we will need more thoughtful probing into how we have responded and how we will respond. This book sets the stage, and is written by experts who have analyzed other big weather events. I strongly recommend it.

Stanley Changnon and his colleagues have written the best, and most comprehensive analysis of what really happened with the biggest climate event of the century, the 1997-1998 El Nino. What is unique about this book is that they carefully look at both the devastation that occured and the positive impacts from the mild winter -- fewer deaths from ice storms, more shopping when people went out in milder weather, less fuel oil. They also point out the places where the forecast worked, and where it had problems. As society gets more and more sensitive to weather events, we will need more thoughtful probing into how we have responded and how we will respond. This book sets the stage, and is written by experts who have analyzed other big weather events. I strongly recommend it.