The Storm

by Kathy Henderson

After declaring the land and sea as his own, Jim learns a valuable lesson about the powers of nature when a raging storm sends him fleeing for his life.

Genres: Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1999

About the author

Kathy Henderson is an artist, printmaker and illustrator, as well as an author. She has written many books for children of all ages including In the Middle of the Night, The Year in the City, Fearless Fitzroy and The Little Boat, which won the Kurt Maschler Award and was shortlisted for the Smarties Prize. She has also illustrated a number of books herself including And the Good Brown Earth and The Storm which was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal and her collection of poems The Dragon with a Big Nose which was shortlisted for the CLPE Children’s Poetry Award 2014.

Reviews

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a gale raging and a little boy living next to the sea, looks out of his window and notices the sea has crept over the marshes and a flood is coming. They leave their home and stay for the night at Grandma's house which is higher up in the village. The next day everything is back to normal and the sea is as quite as a lamb.

Bought for 50p from a library sale, a nice picture book story about the weather, danger and your environment changing, reassuring that all was back to normal in the end.

[Sarah Siddiqui · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a children's book at face value, but it conveys an underlying message of resilience and patience in the face of adversity. It's about a mother and her young boy who have to face a terrible storm alone in the middle of the night. No mention of a father. The single mother and her boy then find refuge at the grandmother's house and wait there until the storm passes away. One gets the feeling that the author wrote this especially for single mothers who often have to fight their way through life with small children, and often find help and support from their parents. The story reminds us that all storms eventually pass, and good pleasant days are just around the corner.