I Am a Tornado

by Drew Beckmeyer, Drew Beckmeyer (Illustrator)

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

Social-emotional learning is an ever-important and ever-expanding part of the conversation around mental health. Drew Beckmeyer's I am a Tornado is geared towards children and their overwhelming, seemingly uncontrollable emotions, but don't get caught off guard when you realize it's a message for all ages. With simple and artful illustrations, there are even some science lessons scattered throughout. This book belongs on every child's bookshelf (and every adults desk).

An emotionally unaware tornado carves a path of destruction until it picks up a very empathetic cow in this quirky and sweet picture book about compassion and navigating negative emotions.

Tornado is on a rampage. It tosses cars and knocks over barns. Tornado is also angry, only it doesn’t know that or want to admit it. Then Tornado picks up Cow. Oh, no! Cow would like to be put down. Fortunately, Cow is a good listener. And sometimes Tornado just needs to be heard.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781665916745
Publisher:	Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/09/2023
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	20,721
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 12.20(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Drew Beckmeyer is an author-illustrator and schoolteacher based in Los Angeles. He is the author-illustrator of I Am a Tornado, The First Week of School, Stalactite & Stalagmite, and The Long Island, which was longlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize, and the illustrator of Dear Wild Child. Visit him online at DrewBeckmeyer.com.

Drew Beckmeyer is an author-illustrator and schoolteacher based in Los Angeles. He is the author-illustrator of I Am a Tornado, The First Week of School, Stalactite & Stalagmite, and The Long Island, which was longlisted for the Klaus Flugge Prize, and the illustrator of Dear Wild Child. Visit him online at DrewBeckmeyer.com.

Editorial Reviews

03/13/2023

In an entertaining story about the power of compassion, an anthropomorphic tornado finds an empathetic ear—and some emotional support—from an unexpected source. Tornado, a menacing twisty gray funnel of cloud, barrels into a rural scene, flipping farm animals and buildings with abandon and sucking up a russet-brown cow. As Tornado continues shouting and spinning, the cow, now along for the ride, asks, “Tornado, is everything okay?” The back-and-forth that follows might well be a primer for emotional de-escalation. Tornado initially remains on the defensive (“I AM SUPER POWERFUL AND TALL... NOTHING BOTHERS ME”), while the patient cow uses a multi-pronged approach of sincerity, empathy, and occasional meteorological sidebars to understand the spiral’s motivation. Slowly, bovine encouragement brings about a transformation for Tornado, who moves from “I’M GONNA GO TOSS ’EM” to “WILL YOU STAY TILL I BLOW AWAY?” Featuring distant mountains and wide-open spaces, cut-paper artwork with a 3D quality slowly shifts with the protagonists’ emotional state, showing the cow growing ever larger and expressive Tornado smaller. Beckmeyer (Dear Wild Child) delivers a relatable, conversational power-down that is by turns gentle, funny, and vulnerable. Ages 4–8. Agent: Stephanie Fretwell-Hill, Red Fox Literary. (May)

Publishers Weekly

* "[I Am a Tornado] is so hilarious and psychologically astute that any other authors contemplating a picture book about a cow playing therapist to a whirling windstorm should probably think twice, as their offering is unlikely to measure up to this one. . . It's all as wonderfully wacky as it sounds."

Shelf Awareness

"As an anthropomorphized tornado wreaks havoc, a cow caught and carried along does its best to de-escalate things. Related via their conversations and Beckmeyer's animated, cut-paper illustrations . . . the boisterous story does nicely portray the ways intense weather (and moods) will eventually abate."

Booklist

"As an anthropomorphized tornado wreaks havoc, a cow caught and carried along does its best to de-escalate things. Related via their conversations and Beckmeyer's animated, cut-paper illustrations . . . the boisterous story does nicely portray the ways intense weather (and moods) will eventually abate."

Booklist

? "The writing could not be more preschooler friendly, the subtext available for discussion among young elementary readers, and paired with a more fact-based book, this is a winning lesson for all kinds of turmoil. VERDICT With humor and grace, Beckmeyer’s wide-eyed characters convey emotions bridging science topics and SEL, putting this whirlwind of a book within the grasp of readers across a broad age range."

STARRED REVIEW

2023-02-08
When a tornado comes rampaging through the countryside, snatching up farmyard animals and threatening further mayhem, a cow caught up in its winds gently questions why it’s so upset.

A horse? A sheep? A house that may have people in it? Doesn’t matter: This tornado’s gonna toss ’em! But a cow wants to know why. Despite repeated denials that the tornado's anything but a massive column of violent, spiraling air, the persistent, supportive cow wheedles its way past its gruff exterior. The tornado’s large, expressive eyes and actions betray the true feelings behind its blustering, though even it may not know why it’s so upset. Colorful illustrations reminiscent of paper cutouts further create a dynamic, cartoonish impression that adds humor without downplaying the tornado’s reckless destruction. A couple of diagrams show how tornadoes form and operate but seem almost randomly inserted, briefly distracting from the analogy of a caregiver helping a small child coping with big emotions. The tornado’s big feelings and actions, delivered in short bursts of text, will initially amuse and draw children in. By contrast, the cow’s calm nature and sympathy slowly develop through longer sentences before the story delivers its moral in the quiet of a breezy dusk. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

An endearing portrayal of an emotional meltdown told with humor and compassion. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews