Tornado!

Sandy Campbell is a reference librarian in the Science and Technology Library at the University of Alberta.

The design of the book is puzzling. It seems to communicate the rather
obvious message that tornadoes are newsworthy. Most of the text, which
has the look and feel of newspaper articles, consists of stories about
specific tornado events. Each two-page spread has an oversized black
title that shouts like a headline: “Blown Away!,” “Tornado
Strikes—City Survives,” “Tornado Rips Through Oklahoma.” Many,
but not all, of the stories are printed at a slight angle on
lighter-coloured background, as though they had been taken from another
publication and reprinted here. A few of the pages give factual
information about tornadoes. This is set square within the page, a
nuance that will be lost on most readers. “You Try It” activity
sections round out the content. On each page, high-quality photographs
of tornadoes or tornado damage illustrate the text. Like most
newspapers, the text is readable at the upper-elementary level.

Most of the content is American, with tidbits from a few other
countries. Although the book tells us that there are about 100 tornadoes
recorded in Canada each year, a picture of the 1987 Edmonton tornado and
a few passing references are the only Canadian content. Yet Alberta
alone has a documented history of more than 600 tornadoes. Many of the
stories associated with them are just as interesting and entertaining as
the American ones told in this book. Nevertheless, the book is well
written, and children will enjoy its content. Recommended.