ALA Booklist (Sat Apr 01 00:00:00 CST 2006)

Gr. 3-5. Like most of the other slender volumes in the Robbie Reader: Natural Disasters series, this book chronicles the power and destruction of a particular storm. In 1992 Hurricane Andrew devastated areas of southern Florida and Louisiana before moving inland. Throughout the book, personal accounts alternate with information about the hurricane and its social and economic effects. Good photos from a variety of sources illustrate the book, which ends with a glossary and lists of recommended books and Internet sites. More comprehensive books on hurricanes are certainly available; this one, which brings the storm close, may be of most interest in areas where Hurricane Andrew actually struck.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006)

With pronunciation glosses for difficult words, this book for newly independent readers recounts the history and science of Florida's Hurricane Andrew. Though weak on explaining how hurricanes form, the mostly clear text and color photographs do a good job of discussing the cause and scope of the disaster. Reading list, timeline, websites. Glos., ind.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-Each volume begins with frightening anecdotes and scenes of danger and death. Using a very basic vocabulary with pronunciations and definitions often supplied, the authors do not withhold gruesome details. Andrew shows the massive destruction of homes and property. Mudslide details the death of a family of young children. In Vesuvius readers are told that this event, though horrific at the time, "has given us a gem today." Tsunami begins with a mother hopelessly trying to hold onto her baby and then watching it be swept away. Children may be fascinated, but also frightened, by a constant diet of disaster news and perhaps need to be reassured that these events, though horrific, are rare. Type is large and bold, with good spacing, which will attract reluctant readers. Full-color photographs and illustrations emphasize the devastation of these events.-Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, Trinity-Pawling School, Pawling, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.