Tsunami Disaster In Indonesia, 2004

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5-Each volume begins with frightening anecdotes and scenes of danger and death. Using a very basic vocabulary with pronunciations and definitions often supplied, the authors do not withhold gruesome details. Andrew shows the massive destruction of homes and property. Mudslide details the death of a family of young children. In Vesuvius readers are told that this event, though horrific at the time, "has given us a gem today." Tsunami begins with a mother hopelessly trying to hold onto her baby and then watching it be swept away. Children may be fascinated, but also frightened, by a constant diet of disaster news and perhaps need to be reassured that these events, though horrific, are rare. Type is large and bold, with good spacing, which will attract reluctant readers. Full-color photographs and illustrations emphasize the devastation of these events.-Eva Elisabeth VonAncken, Trinity-Pawling School, Pawling, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.