Reviewed by Kathie Owens
Assistant Professor
This single-topic book is one of the series in The Weather Watcher’s Library. Topics covered in the book’s chapters include tornado formation, tornado classification, forecasting tornadoes, and tornado safety. The book concludes with a glossary of terms, suggestions for further reading, resources, and a topic index. Features of the book include full-color pictures, detailed diagrams, and special-focus pieces (for example, a detailed description of “wall clouds”).
The book is very colorful - I counted five different bright colors of paper on which the text is written. The pictures of overturned houses, destroyed property, funnel clouds, and black skies lend interest to the text descriptions. The graphics showing the formation of a cumulonimbus cloud and a classic supercell are easy to read, but I couldn’t help think how much clearer these illustrations would be in animated form on a CD-ROM or website. A book looks very static in contrast to newer media!
The author describes the term “tornado alley” but uses no map to locate this area for the reader. This is an oversight, in my opinion. I also wish the glossary included a pronunciation guide. The author educates readers about tornado preparedness and survival, however, I feel he covers the topic far too briefly near the end of the book.
Middle school students will enjoy reading the author’s examples of the dramatic force and destructive power of tornadoes. As a supplement to the Earth science textbook, this book might be useful in the middle school library or classroom. The reading level is appropriate for middle school students although the many pages of text unbroken by illustrations may prove formidable to reluctant readers.
Review posted on 12/26/2000
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