Weather
Kingfisher Readers: Level 4
By Anita Ganeri

Kingfisher
May 2012 / ISBN 9780753467671
Picture book, weather (ages 4 and up)
Amazon

Reviewed by Bob Walch

A level four reader, "Weather" introduces children, who can handle longer sentences, more sophisticated vocabulary and detailed content, to some of the basic concepts of climate and weather.

There is information here on cloud formations, wind, rain and snow, world weather records, storm conditions and weather forecasting. Each section is well illustrated and special facts are highlighted in boxes.

There are plenty of fun facts in this book to capture the young reader's interest and encourage the child to explore the topic of weather further. For example, it may not really rain "cats and dogs", but in 2010 it did apparently rain small fish in Australia. Experts believe a tornado sucked up the fish from a river and then dumped them on the town of Lajamanu.

There are plenty of beginning readers on the market, but I like the idea of combining this type of book with non-fiction subject matter so the child can discover some interesting facts that may pique his or her interest in reading more about the subject.