Thematic Book List - Weather (An Introduction)

Weather describes the condition of the atmosphere at a particular place at a given point in time. Generally weather is described in terms temperature, pressure, wind conditions, moisture, etc. Because the weather is created by a mixture of factors, weather patterns change regularly. In contrast to this, climate refers to the "average" weather conditions for an area over a long period of time.

Here's an annotated list of books that provide an introduction to weather and weather forecasting.

Nonfiction Picture Books 

Can It Rain Cats and Dogs? (1999), written by Melvin and Gilda Berger and illustrated by Robert Sullivan - In an engaging question and answer format, this book provides a nice introduction to a range of weather topics. The book is divided into three subject categories:  (1) sun, air, and wind; (2) rain, snow, and hail; and (3) wild weather.

Feel the Wind (1990), written and illustrated by Arthur Dorres - This book in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series provides fun book simplifies facts about wind so that they are easy to understand. Children will learn about what causes wind, its place in weather, and how we can use it. There are also instructions on how to make your own anemometer.

Gusts and Gales: A Book About Wind (2003), written by Josepha Sherman  and illustrated by Omarr Wesley - This book in the Amazing Science series describes many different types of winds, including global winds, trade winds, local winds, and breezes. The text also touches upon extreme wind weather, including hurricanes and tornadoes.

I Face the Wind (2003), written by Vicki Cobb and illustrated by Julia Gorton - This is a wonderful introduction to what wind is and how it works. It even debunks the popular idea that air weighs nothing. Readers simply need a few materials (a plastic bag, a hanger, balloons, etc.) in order to conduct the series of basic experiments within the book. Between experiments, readers are offered explanations of how wind does what it does and how we experience it. The simplicity of the language combined with the great illustrations and easy-to-do science experiments make this book a wonderful resource for teachers and parents alike.

The Kids' Book of Weather Forecasting (2008), written by Mark Breen and Kathleen Friestad and illustrated by Michael Kline - This book opens with directions on keeping a weather log and does a great job of encouraging kids to make observations and predictions about the weather. Readers will find a wealth of information about weather, as well as directions on how to create simple versions of the most common instruments found in a weather station, including a rain gauge, hygrometer, psychrometer, barometer, and anemometer.  

National Geographic Readers: Weather (2013), written by Kristin Baird Rattini - This level 1 reader describes weather in the simplest of terms. Written in short chapters with economical text, this is a perfect introduction to weather for the youngest students. Back matter includes a picture glossary.

Oh Say Can You Say What's the Weather Today? All About Weather (2004), written by Tish Rabe and illustrated by Aristides Ruiz - This book from The Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library is written in the style of Dr. Seuss. In it, Cat in the Hat and his friends travel by hot-air balloon and experience different types of weather and learn why we need to know what the weather is going to be. Back matter includes a glossary and list of additional resources. 

Pink Snow and Other Weird Weather (1998), written by Jennifer Arena and illustrated by Heidi Petach - This book in the Penguin Young Readers series looks at strange and unusual weather occurrences, such as pink snow, hail frogs, raining jellyfish, and more.

Ready to Read: Wind (2003), written by Marion Dane Bauer and illustrated by John Wallace - This Level 1 text uses simple words and short sentence structures to introduce readers to wind and its role in creating weather.

W is for Wind: A Weather Alphabet (2006), written by Pat Michaels  and illustrated by Melanie Rose - In two levels of text, one poetic and one informational, readers are lead through an alphabet of weather terms (a is for atmosphere, be is for barometer, c is for cloud, d is for dew, etc.). Written by a professional weatherman and storm tracker, Michaels explains weather phenomena, instruments, and more in clear, easy to understand language. Don't miss the helpful teaching guide that accompanies the text.

Weather (2006), written by Seymour Simon - In stunning pictures and clear and engaging text, Simon provides a comprehensive look at the weather. Beginning with the sun as the driver of our weather system, the text moves on to examine wind patterns, temperature, clouds, precipitation, smog, and the greenhouse effect.

Weather Forecasting (1993), written and illustrated by Gail Gibbons - In this book, Gibbons takes children through the four seasons and the weather that is associated with each one. She uses meteorologists at a weather station to explain how seasonal weather is predicted, observed and recorded. Some of the terms may be complicated for children, but Gibbons breaks them down so that they are easier to understand.

Weather: Whipping Up a Storm! (2012), written by Dan Green and designed and created by Basher - This book in the Basher Basics series presents a series of personified characters that describe their roles in creating weather. Chapters include World of Weather, Blue Sky Dreamers, Wet 'n' Wild, and Extreme Weather. Back matter includes a glossary. Learn more by thumbing through this sample.

Weather Words and What They Mean (1992), written and illustrated by Gail Gibbons. - In text and pictures, Gibbons reviews an extensive list of vocabulary words related to weather including different types of precipitation, weather instruments, temperature and much more. The final page presents a number of interesting facts about weather.

What Will the Weather Be? (2002), written by Lynda Dewitt and illustrated by Carolyn Croll - This book in the Let's-Read-and-Find-Out Science series explains the basic characteristics of weather and how meteorologists use a variety of tools to gather data for their forecasts. Readers will learn what scientists know about the weather and how they use this information to try and predict it.

Poetry

Make Things Fly: Poems About the Wind (1998, OP), edited by Dorothy M. Kennedy, illustrated by Sasha Meret - This collection of 27 poems devoted to the wind covers topics like the sound of wind, tornadoes, seasonal wind, windy nights, and much more. Includes poems by Russell Hoban, Eve Merriam, Myra Cohn Livingston, Karla Kuskin, and others.

Seed Sower, Hat Thrower: Poems about Weather (2008), written by Laura Purdie Salas - This collection of weather-themed poems was inspired by an amazing collection of photographs. The re are numerous poetic forms and the topics are wide ranging and cover all kinds of weather phenomena. 

Weather: Poems for All Seasons (1995), collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins and illustrated by Melanie Hall - This collection of poems in the I Can Read series covers topics like the sun, wind, clouds, rain, fog, and more.

Weather Report (1993, OP), collected by Jane Yolen and illustrated by Annie Gusman - This collection of more than 50 poems is divided into sections covering rain, sun, wind, snow, and fog. Each section begins with a brief folk rhyme, followed by a range of poem types written by a nice mix of classic and contemporary poets. 

Online Resources
For additional resources, consider these sites.

• The UCAR Center for Science Education provides a site for students called Web Weather for Kids . You'll also find a wealth of resources for teachers.
• NASA's Climate Kids site has a page devoted to weather and climate.
• Treehouse Weather Kids is designed for teachers and students in the 5th – 8th grades. It provides basic information on weather topics such as winds, moisture, air pressure, seasons, and storms. 
• Weather Report for Kids is a site that creates a visual weather report for young children. 
• Weather Wiz Kids is a site created by meteorologist Crystal Wicker that provides comprehensive information on all types of weather phenomena.
• The National Weather Service in Wichita has a produced a two-part video series for kids, Weather for Kids Part 1 and Weather for Kids Part 2.
• The Interactive Weather Maker is a simulation where players adjust temperature and humidity to change weather conditions and create various weather phenomena. 
• Learn how to report and predict the weather at EdHeads Weather.
• Find directions for building your own weather instruments at weather science projects.

I also have a Pinterest board on this topic with many ideas and activities for instruction.
Follow Tricia's board Weather/Earth's Atmosphere on Pinterest.

You'll notice that books on storms like hurricanes, tornadoes, and blizzards are missing from this post. That is the subject for the my next thematic list, so stay tuned!

Science Poetry Pairings - Rain

I may have grown up where snow was the weather that was most talked about, but my favorite form of precipitation has always been the rain. In our old house in the city I used to love to sit outside on the porch swing when it rained and rock to the beat of the drops, and sometimes the thunder. William and I still like to play in the rain in the summer and jump in puddles in our bare feet. My favorite rain is quiet rain, early in the morning.

Today's book trio celebrates rain in all its wonder. 

Poetry Book

One Big Rain: Poems for a Rainy Days, compiled by Rita Gray and illustrated by Ryan O'Rourke, is a collection of 20 poems about rain through the seasons. Beginning with autumn, each section opens with a haiku about the season. Four additional poems follow. Gray includes eight haiku, two poems translated from other languages (Norwegian and Spanish), works by well-known poets like Robert Frost, Carl Sandburg, and Eve Merriam, as well as works by poets whose names may not be familiar to readers. The illustrations in muted browns, grays, blacks and greens beautifully capture the mood and subject of the poems.

The book opens with an introduction that describes rain through the seasons. The introduction closes with these thoughts.

A gentle rain can shower, sprinkle, drizzle, or mist. Powerful rains beat down in storms and downpours, fall in streams and sheets, or race, rush, and gush in torrents. Rain can play a pinging beat as it falls will-nilly from the sky: pitter-patter, plip-plop, drip-drop, plink-plink. And puddles are perfect to splish-splosh. Poets have captured the language and rhythm of the rain, creating images that stay with us throughout the year.
          As you read about the rain, in various poetic forms,
          Ripple in it, float in it, boat in it.
          Go on, get wet.

Text © Rita Gray. All rights reserved.

Following the introduction is a note about haiku translations. Adapted from a work by poet and translator William J. Higginson, the emphasis is not on counting syllables, but on finding the best rhythm for the haiku in the new language.

Here's the poem that opens the season of spring.

Haiku— 
Rogetsu  

tree-frogs
calling . . . in the young leaves
a passing shower

And here's another poem from spring.

Little Snail— 
Hilda Conkling 

I saw a little snail
Come down the garden walk.
He wagged his head this way . . . that way . . .
Like a clown in a circus.
He looked from side to side
As though he were from a different country.
I have always said he carries his house on his back . . .
To-day in the rain
I saw that it was his umbrella!

Here's a sample spread from the book. You can download this from the Charlesbridge site as a double-sided poster.

The small trim size may make this one go unnoticed, but don't pass it up. It's a lovely little book of poems.

Nonfiction Picture Books

This Is The Rain, written by Lola Schaefer and illustrated by Jane Wattenberg, is a picture book about the water cycle that uses the familiar cumulative pattern of "The House That Jack Built." Bold, vibrant photo-collages accompany the text. It begins this way.

This is the ocean,
blue and vast,
that holds the rainwater from the past.

Can you guess where this goes? Next comes the sun to warm the oceans, which eventually forms vapor that fills the clouds, which produce the rain that falls. Here's the text from the page on rain.

This is the rain,
falling all day,
that forms in clouds,
low and gray,
full of vapor, moist and light
made when sunshine,
hot and bright,
warms the ocean, blue and vast,
that holds the rainwater from the past.

Text © Lola Schaefer. All rights reserved.

After passing through all stages of the water cycle, Schaefer circles back to the rain falling "somewhere every day." The book ends with a short note about the water cycle on planet earth.

When Rain Falls, written by Melissa Stewart and illustrated by Constance Bergum, is a picture book that explains what happens to animals in different habitats when it rains. Each habitat section begins with the words "When rain falls ..." and goes on to describe how different animals respond. Stewart provides readers with glimpses of 22 different animals in a forest, field, wetland, and desert. The soft, watercolor illustrations are realistic and provide subtle details regarding each habitat.

Here's an excerpt from the section on a field.

When rain falls on a field . . . 

...plump little caterpillars crawl under leaves and cling to stems. Adult butterflies dangle from brightly colored heads. 

A raindrop knocks a ladybug off a slippery stem. The insect bounces into the air and then tumbles to the ground.  

A spider watches and waits as the rain beats down on its carefully built web.

Text © Melissa Stewart. All rights reserved.

The text is clear, concise, engaging, and easy to understand. Readers will learn much about how animals adapt to inclement weather.

Perfect Together

All three of these books explore rain in different forms. Whether studying weather or the water cycle (really, they should be taught together, but often aren't!) students can learn about what causes the rain and how people and animals react to the weather. In my classroom I'd start with Schaefer's book and look closely at the water cycle. Then I'd focus specifically on rain by reading a few poems and following up with Stewart's look at how animals respond to the rain.

For additional resources, consider these sites.

• Easy Science for Kids has a nice page of information on rain and how it forms.
• Discovery Kids has a simple page explaining why it rains.
• Weather Wiz Kids has a page on rain and floods that answers a variety of questions kids might have.
• Treehouse Weather Kids is a site designed for teachers and students in the 5th – 8th grades. It provides basic information on weather topics such as winds, moisture, air pressure, seasons, and storms. 
• Discovery News has an article on How Animals Deal with Downpours.