The Science of a Tornado

Gr 4–7—Drawing readers in with exciting accounts of specific disasters, the authors proceed to explain the conditions that cause these natural phenomena. Most of the books also consider the ways in which people try to predict the events and reduce the destructive consequences. Unfortunately, there is more telling than showing, with few photos of scientists using equipment or conducting experiments. Each book includes a list of the five most destructive examples of the subject disaster. Overall, these selections provide less information than Rourke's "Devastating Disasters" series. The volumes on avalanches have the least overlap because the Cherry Lake title offers examples of current prediction strategies, while the Rourke offering stresses personal safety and search and rescue. A chart in Tornado uses wind speeds from the original rather than enhanced Fujita Scale: a major error.