I Am the Storm

by Jane Yolen, Heidi E. Y. Stemple, Kristen Howdeshell (Illustrator), Kevin Howdeshell (Illustrator)

Overview

A tornado, a blizzard, a forest fire, and a hurricane are met, in turn, with resilience and awe in this depiction of nature's power and our own.

In the face of our shifting climate, young children everywhere are finding themselves subject to unfamiliar and often frightening extreme weather. Beloved author Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple address four distinct weather emergencies (a tornado, a blizzard, a forest fire, and a hurricane) with warm family stories of finding the joy in preparedness and resilience. Their honest reassurance leaves readers with the message: nature is powerful, but you are powerful, too. Illustrated in rich environmental tones and featuring additional information about storms in the back, this book educates, comforts, and empowers young readers in stormy or sunny weather, and all the weather in between.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593222751
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/27/2020
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	368,600
Product dimensions:	10.20(w) x 10.80(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Jane Yolen has just published her 380th book! A good portion of her oeuvre focuses on nature, such as the Caldecott winner OWL MOON (in its 80th printing), a series of picture books on birds with the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the highly acclaimed picture book You Nest Here with Me, and National Geographic's Fly with Me. Her books have won many nature awards including The Green Earth Award, the John Burroughs Award, and the National Outdoor Book Award. She is also the author of the How Do Dinos picture book series, which has collectively sold over 20 million copies worldwide. Jane lives in Hatfield, Massachussetts, next door to her adult daughter, Heidi.

Heidi E.Y. Stemple is a second-generation writer. She spends as much time teaching and talking with kids as she does writing. She has published 28 books, mostly for children, and many of them co-written with her mother, Jane Yolen. Her newest solo book, Counting Birds (Quarto), made the NSTA Outstanding Science and the Best STEM lists, won the John Burroughs Riverby Award, and was named a Green Earth Book Award honoree. Heidi lives in Hatfield, Massachussetts, next door to her mother, Jane.

Kevin & Kristen Howdeshell of The Brave Union are a husband-and-wife team based in Kansas City and have been collaborating for 10 years. Most of their work has been in narrative animation / animated sequences. Now with three kids of their own, the tradition of the bedtime story has become a pillar of their nightly routine. As a result, their focus has shifted on creating art geared for the family.

Editorial Reviews

Bank Street Books BEST BOOK (2021)

Amazon BEST BOOK (2020)

"Child-centered, reassuring, and welcome." — Kirkus (STARRED REVIEW)

Wisconsin State Recommended Book

Massachusetts Book Award Shortlist

From the Publisher

★ 2020-07-28
Storms can be frightening, but they can also create memorable family times.

Four children describe how they experienced a tornado, a blizzard, a wildfire, and a hurricane with comforting family members. Words and pictures work together to show joyful moments in what might be scary times. The children come from different parts of the country and may have different family structures, but their grown-ups are thoughtful and supportive. During a tornado, a brown-skinned family reads and plays games in the basement with their grandmother. An Asian-American family cooks on a campfire in the fireplace during a blizzard. White children camp with their dad in a field of wildflowers as a fire ranges beyond the mountains across a river. And Black children escape to their cousins’ house and pretend to be in boats during a hurricane. Flashlights are evident. After each storm, a different pleasant activity is recounted—maybe even dancing. “It’s okay to be scared,” one narrator tells readers. “Nature is strong and powerful. / But, I am strong and powerful, too,” adds another. This comforting title is part of a new line of picture books explicitly aimed at helping children feel capable and supported, and it does so perfectly. The repetitive storytelling shows that some things can be predictable amid the unpredictable. Aftermatter adds a paragraph of further information about each of the four storms. (This book was reviewed digitally with 11-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 85.5% of actual size.)

Child-centered, reassuring, and welcome. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews