Prairie storms by Darcy Pattison, illustrated by Kathleen Rietz

Simple paragraphs in large, bold text describe storms in each month of the year and the animals that must survive them. January has snowstorms and a prairie chicken, February a groundhog peering through the fog, March shows “Migrating sandhill cranes sail down, seeking safety from strange winds that twist and twirl. Nervous, they wade and call. Overhead, a tornado roars past, sweeping across the opens lands.”

The spreads each have a thick border that matches some element in the pictures – tree bark, plowed rows, etc. A thin white border surrounds the picture featuring text and an animal for each month.

As in all of Sylvan Dell’s titles, extensive learning activities are included, with maps, information on grasslands and weather, and quizzes and projects.

Verdict: I found the vague descriptions of weather in the book a little confusing, but the pictures are detailed and attractive and the activities have a nice variety. Probably best for a school library.

ISBN: 978-1607181392; Published August 2011 by Sylvan Dell; Review copy provided by publisher

Have you ever sat outside to watch the dark clouds build up and a storm roll in? This book about the prairie or grassland habitat details the different kinds of storms that normally come in each month of the year on the prairies and what various sorts of animals in that habitat do when they occur, such as the prairie chicken in a January snowstorm, the sand crane in a March tornado, the red fox in a May rain shower, the striped skunk in a July dust storm, the burrowing owl in an August cloudburst, and the bald eagle in a November ice storm. Other animals mentioned include the ground hog, prairie dogs, white tailed deer, the earless lizard, the cougar, and the bison. Other weather phenomena discussed include fog, a flash flood, a thunderstorm, heat lightning during a drought, hail, and blizzards. By the way, do you know what grassland prairies are called in South America?
The six “For Creative Minds” pages in the back feature more information about the grassland habitat, finding grasslands around the world, a weather and seasons matching activity, and questions about weather and seasonal changes relating to both animals and humans. The publisher’s website offers even more online resources for parents and teachers with sixty to seventy pages of cross-curricular teaching activities and three interactive reading and math quizzes all related to Prairie Storms and aligned to state standards. There are so many benefits in a book like this—familiarizing children with the months and seasons of the year, introducing them to the different kinds of inclement weather, and helping them understand more about the various sorts of wildlife which inhabit the prairie. Darcy Pattison’s lyrical prose text and Kathleen Rietz’s realistic illustrations make this celebration of the great American prairies a real winner. ( )

Darcy Pattison has taken the 12 mnths of the year and shown the cycle of life on the prairie, as well as the weather cycle. She didn't stop there. She has filled the end of her book with lessons and activities that covers habitats, math, science, geography, reading. She provides online activities and resources and for those of us who are teachers, this book is geared to state standards. I look forward to putting this on the shelf for my grandkids and recommending it to the parents of my students who have little ones at home. ( )