Clouds, Waves and Wind by Sarah Zambello illustrated by Susy Zanella

Reading Time: There is so much to look at, read about and think about on each page that this book could not be read-through in one sitting. It is a book to return to over and over again, learning a little more each time and gradually coming to appreciate the long history of love and curiosity humanity has had with the sea. The production and design are handsome, professional, and irresistible.

Bookseller blurb: Come on an illustrated expedition across the seas to discover why the ocean has always fascinated us. Ride over wild seas and calm waters. Learn about currents, tides and how to classify waves. Be awestruck by the power of the ocean.

I spied one book from this series in a city bookstore and I was hooked. If I was still purchasing books for my school library I would most certainly add these three titles. The Wave Atlas for example would be so perfect for my previous school which is located in a coastal suburb - as you might imagine surfing is a very popular sport and I am sure the students are quite expert on the topic of waves. Thames and Hudson always produce books of the highest quality. The retail price of these books is AUS$35 but I have found copies online for around AUS$28. The author and illustrator are both from Italy.  Each book has 80 pages and are aimed at readers aged 8+. 

Here are the Italian titles: Nuvolario. Atlante delle nuvole (Clouds); Ondario. I movimenti del mare (Waves); Ventario. Le Scale dei Venti (Wind); and one we don't have in English yet about Snow - Nevario. Le forme della neve. There is also one about Comets in Italian.  I love the cover of the waves book:

As with Cloud Atlas, the same creative duo behind Wave Atlas somehow manages to bring the concept of waves alive. Enticing snippets of historical information weave throughout the text while real images and artwork distil together leaving no doubt as to the many moods and forces the ocean is capable of assuming. Kids' Book Review

Here are the other two titles:

Bookseller blurb: Come on an illustrated expedition through the atmosphere to learn about the world's air currents. Discover ways to measure the wind's force and learn how air pressure systems affect the weather. Float on gentle breezes, sway as the wind picks up and get blown away by a gale force. It's time to get swept up by the power of the wind.

Cloud Atlas takes this scientific obsession up a level or atmosphere as it were. Presenting as a benign coffee table type book, this beautiful collection of clouds speaks to Nephophiles (lovers of all things cloudy) and curious kids alike. Kids' Book Review

Reading Time: Clouds are with us nearly every day, offering us moods, shade, beauty, and fascinating shapes that prompt our imaginations. Sarah Zambello’s Cloud Atlas is an introduction for children, offering scientific, artistic and historical answers to all the questions they might have about clouds. Each page is comprehensively illustrated, either schematically or realistically, in gentle blues, whites and sunset or sunrise colours.

Bookseller blurb: Come on an illustrated expedition across the sky to discover why clouds have always fascinated us. Enjoy blazing sunsets, raging storms, bright blue skies and inky nights while learning the different types of clouds and what kind of weather you can expect from each variation.

It's time to see the skies with new eyes.

I am a bit crazy about clouds - I joined the Facebook group The Cloud Appreciation Society where people post photos of the most amazing clouds. And one of my most favourite books (long long out of print and very old) is this one:

Clouds

Hear the Wind Blow by Doe Boyle illustrated by Emily Paik

Description of this book by Doe Boyle: Hear the Wind Blow portrays the stages of the Beaufort wind scale with precision and also with poetic free verse, style, and imagination. Readers explore the rising and falling of a storm as the wind picks up from a kiss of air, to a gentle breeze that shivers the shifting grasses, to a roiling hurricane that makes tree roots shudder. And, when the winds calm, neighbours emerge to help clean their community. Back matter offers a description of "air on the move," background on the wind force scale, a glossary, and resources.

Someone needs to draw up a timeline showing the evolution of non fiction. Boy oh boy it has come so far in recent years.  Take a look at my post about the book When Cloud became a Cloud. This book has a very appealing format and yet it contains all the facts perfect for a curious child who wonders about clouds, and rain and the importance of the water cycle.

Now I have discovered Hear the Wind Blow. The air around us is never still. In our usual human way we have developed a classification system to explain the different intensities of wind - the Beaufort Scale. This scale was developed in 1805 by Francis Beaufort, an officer of the Royal Navy and first officially used by HMS Beagle.

Image Sources: Wikipedia and eOceanic

Image Source: National Geographic

How can we present this for children?  It is a scale of numbers from 0-12 with corresponding wind speeds. These are interesting facts which can easily be presented in a numerical table but what about using a poem to explore the changing strengths of the wind?  

Hear the Wind Blow is a poetic story that explains the wind and follows the Beaufort scale. Read more about this book here. This book will be a perfect addition to every school library. You could pop it with your poetry books or with other books about weather and wind at [551.51]. 

Here is a description of calm:

Awaken to the calm

the peaceful pink of dawn's light, quiet as the inky night.

Note a kiss of air - 

a soft breath, a phantom wisp, faint as shadows, cool and crisp.

Here is a description of level 9:

Now the windstorm ships and wails - 

sucks at sand and billows sails. 

Shut the door! Stay inside. A storm approaches! You must hide.

Here are some other terrific books about the wind:

Wild is the Wind

Kate who Tamed the wind

Ollie and the Wind

Bluebird

Here are some older books by Doe Boyle which may be in your school library:

Wild is the Wind by Grahame Baker-Smith

Who Has Seen the Wind?

BY CHRISTINA ROSSETTI

Who has seen the wind?

Neither I nor you:

But when the leaves hang trembling,

The wind is passing through.

Who has seen the wind?

Neither you nor I:

But when the trees bow down their heads,

The wind is passing by.

Cassi is holding a tiny swift in the palm of her hand. We see the flock swirling through the sky above her.

"The land warms the air making it less dense and lighter. And being lighter, it rises. Cooler air above the ocean rushes in and the wind awakes! ... the tiny bird rises from Cassi's hands and, like a drop of water thrown into a river, disappears into the fleet-winged flock."

The wind continues on its way and we see it through the changes and actions it makes such as waves on the ocean, a wild cyclone, shifting sands of the desert, and monuments of carved rock. Meanwhile the little swift flies on and on eventually arriving in the courtyard of a house in China. She finds a safe place, lays her eggs, and once the new chicks grow big enough the mother bird joins her flock following the wind back to Cassi.

The language in my earlier quote shows you the lyricism of this writing.  

Here are some other phrases I love:

The swifts know the path through the "pathless sky."

"This pale revolving envelope of air ... "

"The wind is the ceaseless shaper of the Earth."

"The wind whips the waves, cresting each one - like a conjuror's trick - with wild white horses."

Wind is a natural phenomena we experience every day but how can it be explained (with illustrations) in a picture book?  Grahame Baker-Smith has achieved this in a truly special book which follows on from his previous The Rhythm of the Rain. I highly recommend this book for all school libraries. I was pleased to see this beautiful book is not very expensive. Take a look here to see some of the illustrations.

Other picture books about the wind:

Kate who tamed the Wind

Ollie and the Wind

The Sea-Breeze Hotel

Of course you will also want to link this book with Bird Migration gathering books such as Circle by Jeannie Baker; Windcatcher; and  Follow the Swallow. 

Here are some lesson ideas if you are wanting to develop a unit of work around the topic of wind.

Bluebird by Lindsey Yankey

The wind is so important but we cannot see it, we can only see it's effects. This little bluebird wakes up to discover the wind is missing. She sets out to investigate. The dandelions are still and without the wind their seeds cannot blow away; she sees a lonely kite resting on a park bench; the washing is unmoving; flags droop and, my favourite illustration, the fringes on the beautiful patterned scarves on display in the market no longer flutter. If you were asked to predict other consequences of no wind I'm sure you would think of sailing boats becalmed on the lake and silent wind chimes. After exploring her neighborhood and the nearby city, Bluebird discovers she can fly without her friend, but at that moment

"Just as she was about to take off, she felt something.
It was the wind blowing down from the clouds, high above the city. It must have been resting there, watching her fly."

Bluebird has the most exquisite illustrations. Lindsey Yankey uses mixed media, a limited palette, and a variety of perspectives.  She often uses a whole page and just one colour. The blogger Art on the Page writes:

Lindsey uses drawing, painting, relief prints, and collage to illustrate this book. She also does a quirky thing that I love and draws a scene right around the edges of the page so that the orientation of the picture changes.

You could also use this book to talk about all the ways to describe the wind:
"Not a leaf in the tree was stirring."
"The wind loved to help kites perform acrobatics high in the sky."
"Just the day before the wind had been tickling the grass with the willow branches."


Yankey’s text captures both the wishing for what the wind does every day and also how things are without the wind blowing.  The contrast between what Bluebird knows the wind does and how things are when they are still is wonderfully written with simplicity and grace.  Waking Brain Cells

Take a look at the web site for the publisher of Bluebird - Simple Read Books from Vancouver.

I adore exploring different phenomena via picture books.

Here are some I have read recently:

Dreams

When the World is Dreaming

Silence

The Sound of Silence and Silence by Lemniscates

Wind

Kate, the girl who tamed the wind and Bluebird

Time

Where does Thursday go?

I am the Seed that grew the Tree Part Two

I Am the Seed That Grew the Tree is the size of 12 picture books, with 334 illustrated pages and 366 poems spanning the last four centuries.  Frann Preston-Gannon illustrator

The quote above comes from Frann who illustrated this book. Here is an interview where you can read how she illustrated of I am the Seed that Grew the Tree. What a mammoth task it was to illustrate so many pages. We are so lucky she took on this task - the final book is one to treasure.  I mentioned I will share a poem or two from this glorious book from time to time.

Here are a few more for you to enjoy:

January 21st

Over wintry wind-whipped waves

The white-winged  seagulls wildly sweep:

Weaving, winding, wheeling, whistling,

Where the wide waste waters weep.

Anonymous

July 16th

When the heat of the summer

Made drowsy the land,

A dragonfly came

And sat on my hand,

with its blue joined body,

And wings like spun glass,

It lit on my fingers

As though they were grass.

Eleanor Farjeon

August 7th

THE SHELL

On the shelf in my bedroom stands a shell.

If I hold it close, I can smell

The salty sea.

I can hear the slap

Of the waves as they lap

The sandy shore.

I can feel once more

The tickling tide

As it gently flows between my toes.

John Foster

A friend mentioned this book had a different cover in the US.  I tracked it down - this wasn't easy because it also has a different title. I wonder why?  The Kirkus review says majestic and inspiring as nature itself.   You can see 66 pages inside the book which is the same as the UK version on the publisher web site.

Kate, who tamed the wind by Liz Garton Scanlon illustrated by Lee White

"The little girl in this story made a difference with her wagon full of saplings ... They served as a windbreak, they held the dust down, and they provided shade, homes for birds and squirrels, and happiness. Yep, she made a difference ... "  Liz Garton Scanlon

Liz Garton Scanlon structures this text using repeated phrases making this an excellent book to read aloud:

The man lived all alone in the creaky house on the tip-top of a steep hill where a soft wind blew.
The man lived all alone in the creaky house where the curtains swung and chimes spun as a soft wind blew.

The wind grows stronger and chaos ensues.

The man cries out "what to do?".  A little girl, called Kate, hears his cries for help. She catches his hat which has blown down the hill.  On the back cover of this book you can see a set of plans drawn by Kate as she develops a way to solve this problem.

Here is the author web site where you can see all her books.  Here is an excellent set of teachers notes and extension ideas to use with Kate, who tamed the Wind.

The other special aspect of this book is the way the reader can see the passing of time. Trees do take time to grow. Kate and the man plant and tend the trees and as they grow tall and strong, Kate changes from a young girl into a teenager and the man's beard turns grey.  The final page of this book has some facts about trees and their importance along with some web links to explore.

I would pair this book with A forest by Marc Martin, Last Tree in the city by Peter Carnavas and Tree by Danny Parker.  You might also explore some books about the wind with a younger group of students.  You could use this book for Earth Day or National Tree Day.

The story and illustrations strike just the right notes of lightheartedness, determination, and education—on Earth-friendly materials to boot. Kirkus Star review

The lyrical text begs to be read aloud and is perfect for Arbor Day or Earth Day celebrations.  School Library Journal

Ollie and the wind by Ronojoy Ghosh

Oddly my first question about Ollie and the wind (short listed for the 2016 CBCA awards) was who is Ronojoy Ghosh and is Ollie and the wind his first book?  Yes it is. Ronojoy has been working in advertising.  How amazing to have your very first book reach the short list.  Ronojoy has now written his second book - No place like home which you can also find in our school library.

One aspect of this book that appeals to me is the way Ollie is a problem solver.  The wind takes his hat and scarf - how can Ollie get his things back.

"That night as Ollie lay in bed, he thought about why the wind didn't want to play with his toys. Then he had an idea."

I have not yet shared this book with our Kindergarten children but I do think they will laugh as Ollie attempts to catch the wind with a net and an empty can.  I can also see there will be a lot to discuss when the wind rejects Ollie's ball and precious fire truck.

The idea of flying kites at night is also an appealing one especially under a full moon.

Here are some very detailed teaching notes for Ollie and the Wind

After reading this book you could explore some of these books about the wind.  I would also recommend looking at some of our wonderful stories about kites especially The Sea Breeze hotel which is also a story about problem solving.  We will also read Blown Away and Stuck by Oliver Jeffers as books to compare with Ollie and the Wind.