ALA Booklist (Fri Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2003)

Pairing a simply phrased narrative with arresting, eye-catching color photos, Simon explains what hurricanes are and imparts a vivid sense of their destructive potential. After introducing hurricanes (and their lesser cousins, tropical storms and tropical depressions), he describes how the storms develop and are rated on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale and supplies recent examples before closing with advice for readers who might find themselves in a hurricane's path. The uncaptioned illustrations include satellite photos, ground-level scenes of flooded streets, computer enhanced radar images, and shots of storm victims being rescued. The lack of an index or further resources may hamper assignment-driven children, but like most of Simon's other work, this is unsurpassed for kindling interest in a scientific subject and communicating an understanding of its scope and significance.

Horn Book (Thu Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2004)

With the characteristic design of most of Simon's books (continuous text, generous leading, dramatic full-page color photos), this one offers young readers an introduction to "the world's worst storms." While much of the text is informative, occasional redundancies and under-explained concepts ("every second, a large hurricane releases the energy of ten atomic bombs...") impede clarity.

Kirkus Reviews

Simon tackles his latest natural disaster in trademark but not very modern style. Information on hurricanes is clearly presented but poorly organized, and lacks any sense of drama or story. Aimed at the same age group as Dorothy Souza's Hurricanes (1996) and Patricia Lauber's Hurricanes: Earth's Mightiest Storms , this falls short of both, often going into too much pedantic detail—the wind speeds of tropical depressions versus tropical storms—while failing to put needed perspective on some of the more eye-popping statistics. A hurricane can move more than a million cubic miles of atmosphere per second—but the naked numbers are essentially meaningless to students who think of millions in terms of ballplayers' salaries and can't imagine cubic miles at all. Photos of smashed houses and boats in front yards add excitement, but others—plain clouds?—detract; some are very grainy when blown up to the requisite full page. Formulaic and a numbing read-aloud. (Nonfiction. 8-10)

School Library Journal (Thu May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2008)

Gr 3-5 An updated edition of Simon's 2003 title, this book presents a definition and etymology of the term, descriptions of tropical storms, the names of significant disasters, the formation and behavior of hurricanes, and the resulting storm surges. A passage on the Saffir-Simpson scale presents accounts and photos of the damage of the five categories. A closing section deals with forecasting, warnings, and precautions. The changes since the original include the addition of the Australian term for hurricanes; the replacement of a passage on Hurricane Andrew (1992) with coverage of Katrina (2005), with Andrew replacing Opal (1995) as an example of a Category 4 hurricane; deletion of a passage warning that New Orleans is potentially in danger of a serious hurricane; two replacement photos; and new cover art featuring the Smithsonian logo. This is a typical Simon effort, with readable text and excellent photos. Jeffrey A. French, formerly at Willoughby-Eastlake Public Library, Willowick, OH