Great Gusts

March 1, 2024
Grades 2-5 *Starred Review* A colorful picture-book format, expressive poems, vibrant art, and detailed scientific information combine for an engaging introduction to 14 types of wind around the globe. The opening verse sets a lyrical tone, and the following poems, in various styles, present each individual wind accompanied by explanatory text in a smaller font, highlighting the wind's characteristics and where and how it forms. For example, "Willy-willy" ("A little hot air / rising too fast / sends you spinning / kicking up dust . . .") appears next to a kangaroo in a sunny, desert terrain, while the smaller text explains that Australian dust devils (called willy-willy) occur when "high surface temperature warms the air, making it spin upward in strong updrafts." Other poems feature Antarctic katabatic wind, Japanese oroshi (gusts down the slope of a mountain), and the helm in the Pennines ("You'll hear it first, / the rumbling roar / across the damp / and wild moor"). The poems' vivid, sensory imagery--like the moani that carries the scent of tropical flowers across the ocean from Hawaii--is echoed in evocative illustrations, the wind's motion further conveyed in airy swirls across each spread. Supplemental material discusses general wind science and some poetic forms; a map, glossary, and list of further reading bolster the information. While the occasionally complex vocabulary might challenge some younger readers, there is plenty here to illuminate and intrigue on many levels. A stirring addition to poetry collections or to complement Earth Science lessons.

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April 1, 2024

Gr 4-6-"Can you ever really see the wind?" "Can you ever really know the wind?" Two short questions and poetic suggestions toward the beginning of this book invite readers to personally experience wind. "Lift your face to the breeze-/ let it bathe your cheeks/ sift through your hair/ tease your fingertips./ Listen/ while the wind whispers its name." This fanciful idea of the whisper leads directly to the "Bull's-Eye Squall," a poem about the squall blowing off the coast of South Africa. The winding tour goes on through 13 more places around the world where specially named winds blow across land, water, mountains, cities, deserts, and snowy expanses. Stops include Japan, the Pennine Mountain Range in Northern England, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Windy City of Chicago. Short lines of poetry, mostly blank verse, flow down picture book pages to terse explanations. Simple, digitally created scenes often include children, sometimes with a local animal. Softly shaded sweeps of sky and curving lines swirling everywhere show the wind's direction. End materials add brief comments on air in motion making the wind, the local naming of wind, and local poetic traditions used in a few poems. Geographic locations of the listed winds are shown as numbers on a circular globe, and there's a glossary and short bibliography of related children's books. The picture book format suggests a younger audience, but children in the middle grades will likely not be familiar with all of the named locations or readily grasp the fairly technical explanations. Some poems read aloud could spark classroom discussion and lead to further study of the ever-growing presence of wind. VERDICT Put this book of poems in the hands of talented science teachers.-Margaret Bush

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