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I Am the Storm
A tornado, a blizzard, a forest fire, and a hurricane are met, in turn, with resilience and awe in this depiction of nature's power and our own.
In the face of our shifting climate, young children everywhere are finding themselves subject to unfamiliar and often frightening extreme weather. Beloved author Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple address four distinct weather emergencies (a tornado, a blizzard, a forest fire, and a hurricane) with warm family stories of finding the joy in preparedness and resilience. Their honest reassurance leaves readers with the nature is powerful, but you are powerful, too. Illustrated in rich environmental tones and featuring additional information about storms in the back, this book educates, comforts, and empowers young readers in stormy or sunny weather, and all the weather in between.
In the face of our shifting climate, young children everywhere are finding themselves subject to unfamiliar and often frightening extreme weather. Beloved author Jane Yolen and her daughter Heidi Stemple address four distinct weather emergencies (a tornado, a blizzard, a forest fire, and a hurricane) with warm family stories of finding the joy in preparedness and resilience. Their honest reassurance leaves readers with the nature is powerful, but you are powerful, too. Illustrated in rich environmental tones and featuring additional information about storms in the back, this book educates, comforts, and empowers young readers in stormy or sunny weather, and all the weather in between.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published October 27, 2020
About the author
Jane Yolen
989 books3,254 followersJane Yolen is a novelist, poet, fantasist, journalist, songwriter, storyteller, folklorist, and children’s book author who has written more than three hundred books. Her accolades include the Caldecott Medal, two Nebula Awards, the World Fantasy Award, three Mythopoeic Awards, the Kerlan Award, two Christopher Awards, and six honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Born and raised in New York City, the mother of three and the grandmother of six, Yolen lives in Massachusetts and St. Andrews, Scotland.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews
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April 3, 2025What a beautiful picture book! With concrete examples and messages to calm kids through traumatic times paired with messages of resilience and finding joy in the mundane. It's very comforting to have "This too shall pass" put into so many contexts. This would be a great pick for bibliotherapy, social emotional learning, or talking about anxiety with children of all ages. -- Alexis S.
January 18, 2021
Such important message are found in this book: It’s okay to be scared! The storm will soon end! You’re more like this storm than you realize! We continue to face traumatic storms with tornadoes, blizzards, forest fires, and hurricanes recurring year after year. But this book provides the comforting tone needed to calm anxiety and remind children that life will soon begin anew. Additionally, we reflect the calm after the storm. Worth remembering! The back matter includes more details about tornadoes, blizzards, wildfires, and hurricanes for readers who would like to learn more. The artwork was sketched in pencil and the finishes are rendered in Photoshop with a Wacom tablet. Truly lovely book filled with so much HOPE! ❤
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!
February 10, 2021
Beautifully illustrated survey of different families either sheltering in place or evacuating their homes due to different natural disasters and extreme weather events. At the end there is some messaging about the storm being a metaphor for other difficult situations that make a child feel big emotions, but know that you will come through to the other side and everything will be okay.
That message is fine for the most part, and the book is an interesting look at these different extreme weather situations. However, every family is depicted as come through the situation essentially unscathed. This is good for the more abstract metaphor the book expounds on at the end, but there are lots and lots of families who have lost their homes or experienced significant damage from tornadoes, blizzards, wildfires, and floods. For these families, the book comes up lacking.
That message is fine for the most part, and the book is an interesting look at these different extreme weather situations. However, every family is depicted as come through the situation essentially unscathed. This is good for the more abstract metaphor the book expounds on at the end, but there are lots and lots of families who have lost their homes or experienced significant damage from tornadoes, blizzards, wildfires, and floods. For these families, the book comes up lacking.
August 15, 2021
Nice uses of similes and metaphors and would be very helpful when explaining those devices to children, however, this book is extremely insensitive towards families and communities that have already been wrecked by natural disasters. You can teach children to be calm but you can’t teach them that they can always “return home” after a hurricane when their homes have already been wiped away by hurricanes. It’s obvious that the author is from Massachusetts and has never been personally impacted by any type of natural disaster.
January 1, 2021
Beautiful! An important message about the strength we all hold inside us to withstand the storms and that storms do pass. Backmatter adds details about each type of storm featured in the book (tornado, blizzard, wildfire, hurricane).
March 8, 2023
"I am the storm. And when the storm passes, as it always does, I am the calm, too." Beautifully illustrated, lyrical and moving text. This gorgeous picture book would be a perfect read for children who are anxious about storms, but there are also so many opportunities for deeper discussions about personal empowerment.
November 28, 2020
This picture book focuses on four types of storms that children may encounter where they live: tornado, blizzard, hurricane, and wild fires. The family with a tornado nearby has a party in their basement together with cards and books by flashlight. When the storm had passed, they cleared up afterwards. When the blizzard came to another family, they bundled up and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows in the fireplace. After the storm, they shoveled the snow and made a snowman. When the wildfires came, that family left the area and went camping. They could still see the smoke. When the fires were out, they swept up ashes and washed windows. When the hurricane came, that family moved away from the coast to stay with cousins and then returned home when the storm was over.
This picture book is a glimpse of the power and impact of nature and its storms. It also shows how preparations can help keep everyone safe during a storm, no matter what kind it is. The book ends with deep empathy for how scared children can be during storms and a way for children to see themselves in nature and even the storms that pass and bring calm behind them. The text is simple and reads aloud well, inviting readers to see storms and fires as events that need respect for their power but don’t have to have children living in fear.
The illustrators use a wide-ranging color palette to evoke the different kinds of storms. With black and purple storm clouds, the eerie orange color of a tornado arrives. The icy blue of winter blizzards illuminates the entire house. The hurricane too arrives with purple swirling with black. After each storm, there is a lightness to the illustrations, a sense of new space in the images.
As climate change makes storms and fires more severe, this is a timely book to share. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
This picture book is a glimpse of the power and impact of nature and its storms. It also shows how preparations can help keep everyone safe during a storm, no matter what kind it is. The book ends with deep empathy for how scared children can be during storms and a way for children to see themselves in nature and even the storms that pass and bring calm behind them. The text is simple and reads aloud well, inviting readers to see storms and fires as events that need respect for their power but don’t have to have children living in fear.
The illustrators use a wide-ranging color palette to evoke the different kinds of storms. With black and purple storm clouds, the eerie orange color of a tornado arrives. The icy blue of winter blizzards illuminates the entire house. The hurricane too arrives with purple swirling with black. After each storm, there is a lightness to the illustrations, a sense of new space in the images.
As climate change makes storms and fires more severe, this is a timely book to share. Appropriate for ages 2-4.
April 2, 2021
The illustrations are beautiful and embrace the many emotions we feel when going through a natural storm. The colors are rich and natural and shine a wonderful warmth on family. Author Jane Yolen covers all seasons and all areas of the U.S. The storyline goes through tornadoes, blizzards, wild fires and hurricanes. Even though these experiences can be devastating, the author soothes the reader through each storm by reinforcing our resiliency.
Find I Am The Storm at the Westminster Public Library today!
And if you are in search of new books to read, try our services, What Do I Read Next. Our library staff are standing by to create a personalized recommendation list for you!
Find I Am The Storm at the Westminster Public Library today!
And if you are in search of new books to read, try our services, What Do I Read Next. Our library staff are standing by to create a personalized recommendation list for you!
November 4, 2020
The mother-daughter writing team have created something beautiful and necessary for right now. It is a book of hope and persevering. This centers on the power of nature and how we weather hurricanes, tornadoes, blizzards, and forest fires and endure afterwards. The predictable pattern the poems settles into as it goes through the acts of nature is comforting and hopeful. I think we all need phrases like "When the forests cooled, as wildfires always do..." this year. This book feels like a hug. A poetic, gorgeous, emotion affirming hug.
August 12, 2021
Jane Yolen has quickly become a favorite author in my house. I knew this one would be a win because my almost 8 year old is obsessed with all things weather related, and this did not disappoint!
February 11, 2021
Four different children experience four different kinds of extreme weather.
"Nature is strong and powerful. But, I am strong and powerful, too ... And when the storm passes, as it always does, I am the calm, too."
This picture book shows the experience of a tornado, a blizzard, a wildfire, and a hurricane from a child's perspective. Facts about each type of weather event / natural disaster are given at the end of the book.
The illustrations are beautiful. They were sketched in pencil and finished in Photoshop with a Wacom Tablet.
I'm of two minds about that book. On one hand, because of the increase in extreme weather due to climate change, it's great to see a book address the topic and reassure young readers that extreme weather is survivable.
On the other hand, the book really downplays the threat of severe weather and climate change to human beings. All of the children featured, while inconvenienced, escape the severe weather completely unscathed. Their adult caregivers even turn the "storm" into a sort of fun adventure. The storm damage requires only minor clean up, and there is no property damage. The characters handle severe weather as if it is something that can be easily handled.
This picture book misses the opportunity to introduce the problem of climate change through the rise in severe weather and, at least, suggest that grown-ups are working hard to mitigate the effects of climate change and, therefore, reduce the occurrence of severe weather in the future. It also failures to warn young readers who live in fire hazard zones, flood zones, coastal areas, and Tornado Alley that their homes may be destroyed and that they may become a domestic climate refugee.
Due to the failure of virtually every single government on the planet to make significant changes, climate change may result in the extinction of our species or in a mass human die-off. The threat is immediate, it is real, and it is the youngest generations -- the target audience of this book -- who will bear the brunt of this crisis. Downplaying severe weather does young people a real disservice. It is patronizing and paternalistic, and it fails to prepare them for then reality that they will face. This book can almost be read as propaganda for climate change denial since the overall message boils down to extreme weather isn't so bad.
"Nature is strong and powerful. But, I am strong and powerful, too ... And when the storm passes, as it always does, I am the calm, too."
This picture book shows the experience of a tornado, a blizzard, a wildfire, and a hurricane from a child's perspective. Facts about each type of weather event / natural disaster are given at the end of the book.
The illustrations are beautiful. They were sketched in pencil and finished in Photoshop with a Wacom Tablet.
I'm of two minds about that book. On one hand, because of the increase in extreme weather due to climate change, it's great to see a book address the topic and reassure young readers that extreme weather is survivable.
On the other hand, the book really downplays the threat of severe weather and climate change to human beings. All of the children featured, while inconvenienced, escape the severe weather completely unscathed. Their adult caregivers even turn the "storm" into a sort of fun adventure. The storm damage requires only minor clean up, and there is no property damage. The characters handle severe weather as if it is something that can be easily handled.
This picture book misses the opportunity to introduce the problem of climate change through the rise in severe weather and, at least, suggest that grown-ups are working hard to mitigate the effects of climate change and, therefore, reduce the occurrence of severe weather in the future. It also failures to warn young readers who live in fire hazard zones, flood zones, coastal areas, and Tornado Alley that their homes may be destroyed and that they may become a domestic climate refugee.
Due to the failure of virtually every single government on the planet to make significant changes, climate change may result in the extinction of our species or in a mass human die-off. The threat is immediate, it is real, and it is the youngest generations -- the target audience of this book -- who will bear the brunt of this crisis. Downplaying severe weather does young people a real disservice. It is patronizing and paternalistic, and it fails to prepare them for then reality that they will face. This book can almost be read as propaganda for climate change denial since the overall message boils down to extreme weather isn't so bad.
January 28, 2021
The concept — depicting resilience during storms — is a good one. The illustrations are lovely. Seeing families weathering a variety of storms and then cleaning up after them resonated with me and probably will with a lot of people, since everyone has been through some sort of storm or natural disaster.
The sentiment "I am the storm" did not resonate with me, however. Honestly, it seems ridiculous. You are the destructive force that is sweeping through your world and imperiling the lives and livelihoods of your family, friends, and neighbors? Um, no.
"I am strong like the storm. I am resilient; I can withstand it; I too can be a force in my world." That I could get, and that is I think what the gist of the message here is supposed to be. But the sentiment given here is not fully elaborated like that; the most elaboration it gets is on the last few pages as "I am the storm. I am fierce like the hurricane" (or strong, or wild, like the tornado or blizzard or wildfire; I've already returned the book to the library, or I'd quote it verbatim).
Illustrating resilience through storms to reassure a child is beneficial, and for children who already appreciate the grandeur of storms, this book may be perfectly sufficient; but logical or especially sensitive children may find the sentiment insulting or may have questions even when they grasp the metaphor, since not everyone wants to embody the ferocity of a life-taking disaster.
2.5 stars
The sentiment "I am the storm" did not resonate with me, however. Honestly, it seems ridiculous. You are the destructive force that is sweeping through your world and imperiling the lives and livelihoods of your family, friends, and neighbors? Um, no.
"I am strong like the storm. I am resilient; I can withstand it; I too can be a force in my world." That I could get, and that is I think what the gist of the message here is supposed to be. But the sentiment given here is not fully elaborated like that; the most elaboration it gets is on the last few pages as "I am the storm. I am fierce like the hurricane" (or strong, or wild, like the tornado or blizzard or wildfire; I've already returned the book to the library, or I'd quote it verbatim).
Illustrating resilience through storms to reassure a child is beneficial, and for children who already appreciate the grandeur of storms, this book may be perfectly sufficient; but logical or especially sensitive children may find the sentiment insulting or may have questions even when they grasp the metaphor, since not everyone wants to embody the ferocity of a life-taking disaster.
2.5 stars
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November 18, 2020This is a beautiful and comforting book about all kinds of severe storms that reassures children that once the storm passes (as storms always do) calm will be restored. This would be the perfect book to calm children who have high anxiety about storms. Although nothing truly bad happens to any of the families depicted, you do see them cleaning up a bit in the aftermath of the storms (shoveling snow, cleaning up ash after wildfires, etc.). This is a book that urges young readers to be brave and says that even though storms are strong, you're strong, too.
November 25, 2020
"It's okay to be scared."
This stunning picture book is an ode to what we feel during fierce natural disasters: tornadoes, blizzards, wildfires, and hurricanes. But we are fierce, too, and when the storms pass, as they always do, we are the calm.
This stunning picture book is an ode to what we feel during fierce natural disasters: tornadoes, blizzards, wildfires, and hurricanes. But we are fierce, too, and when the storms pass, as they always do, we are the calm.
September 22, 2021
Mother Nature throws at us some fierce storms, whether that be hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, or blizzards but as humans we are fierce too. Jane Yolan does an excellent job showing that although we have no control over Mother Nature, we can control how we react to what happens in our area. Each of these situations are unpredictable, yet in this children’s book we find comfort and strength to weather any storm that should come our way.
The illustrations inside this book are just wonderful. From the purple-orange swirl of the tornado to the burning marshmallow, for each of these little details brings this book to life. I enjoyed the diversity as each of the families as they dealt with their disaster. Although their situations weren’t as devasting as we witness on the news, there was still work to be done and emotions that need to be addressed, after their event had passed. Yolan text is soothing and instills with her readers that the disaster will eventually end and they too, will survive. Things might look different outside for them but “It’s okay to be scared” for they are “strong and powerful” and each of them have characteristics of the storms within them. In the back of the book, Yolan gives a brief description about each type of storm. 5 stars
“And when the storm passes,
as it always does,
I am the calm, too.”
The illustrations inside this book are just wonderful. From the purple-orange swirl of the tornado to the burning marshmallow, for each of these little details brings this book to life. I enjoyed the diversity as each of the families as they dealt with their disaster. Although their situations weren’t as devasting as we witness on the news, there was still work to be done and emotions that need to be addressed, after their event had passed. Yolan text is soothing and instills with her readers that the disaster will eventually end and they too, will survive. Things might look different outside for them but “It’s okay to be scared” for they are “strong and powerful” and each of them have characteristics of the storms within them. In the back of the book, Yolan gives a brief description about each type of storm. 5 stars
“And when the storm passes,
as it always does,
I am the calm, too.”
May 20, 2020
A gorgeous picture book that explains several types of natural disasters (tornadoes, hurricanes, wildfires, and snowstorms) in a way young children will understand. We also follow multiple diverse families as they endure each of these disasters in their own way.
The illustrations are wonderful, the families pictured are diverse, and the suggestions for handling the disasters are safe and appropriate. This books empowers children to "weather the storm" with grace and dignity, understanding that the are strong enough to handle it. Highly recommended!
Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
The illustrations are wonderful, the families pictured are diverse, and the suggestions for handling the disasters are safe and appropriate. This books empowers children to "weather the storm" with grace and dignity, understanding that the are strong enough to handle it. Highly recommended!
Disclaimer: I received a free electronic copy of this book from the publisher through Edelweiss+ in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
December 26, 2020
Well if this isn't a metaphor for 2020 I don't know what is. The authors explore the force of four kinds of storms, their actions and aftermaths, and how children experience and process them. Like the storm, children are a powerful force and this affirmation, along with the calm that follows a storm of any kind, is good to hear in this time.
Terrific, impressionistic illustrations by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell.
Terrific, impressionistic illustrations by Kristen and Kevin Howdeshell.
March 4, 2021
I had big expectations for this one, because I felt like the title was very powerful. It is a good look into what activities can occur during a storm. Passing time is different for everyone so it opened my eyes to some possibilities.
June 7, 2021
My 6 y/o daughter went through the two horrible hurricanes in Louisiana (Laura and Delta) in 2020 and in May of 2021 survived a tornado that passed overhead. She's very out-done with weather now. This book was a nice way to broach the subject with her and have a calm talk about it - about how it will always stop (at some point), as long as we wait it out.
June 18, 2023
Beautiful illustrations, and a good message about bad weather never lasting forever. I tend to expect good things from Jane Yolen by now, and this is no exception. It’ll definitely make the cut for the homeschool weather unit.
January 30, 2021
Beautiful art. Great writing.
February 1, 2021
I have been looking for a book about natural disasters for kids for so long and I’m glad this one finally came out. This book offers an empowering and embodied look at the storms that seem overwhelming large, are overwhelming large, especially to a child. There is positivity in the book to help a child reflect on strange but also good memories of a challenging time, but also real language that says, “you get to be sad, angry, etc.” with resilience as its focus.
July 23, 2024
I love Jane Yolen's books. There's always a message that makes you feel hopeful and comforted. It's nice to see the mother-daughter and husband-wife duo of duos. Sweet, empowering book for children!
November 9, 2020
Stunning. I LOVED this one.
June 5, 2022
A new bedtime favorite.
September 18, 2021
Rounded up, because I think it would be useful in this time of climate change. Families prepare, weather storms and then clean up after a tornado, blizzard, wildfire and a hurricane.
June 3, 2023
Featured in a grandma reads session.
RTC. . .
RTC. . .
November 21, 2020
There was once a girl who loved to study the weather and make predictions. (She still does.) She was also terrified of storms. She understood the power they unleashed. Whenever the sky would darken, panic coursed through her body. She was well into her middle years before she faced her fear. By replacing this raw worry with respect, it made her stronger.
Today our climate and our weather are changing globally, creating frightening phenomena. These phenomena leave devasting results in their wake. Children are rightfully concerned. I Am The Storm (RISE Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, October 27, 2020) by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple with illustrations by Kristen Howdeshell and Kevin Howdeshell explores extremes in weather and our responses as families and communities.
My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...
Today our climate and our weather are changing globally, creating frightening phenomena. These phenomena leave devasting results in their wake. Children are rightfully concerned. I Am The Storm (RISE Penguin Workshop, an imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, October 27, 2020) by Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple with illustrations by Kristen Howdeshell and Kevin Howdeshell explores extremes in weather and our responses as families and communities.
My full recommendation: https://librariansquest.blogspot.com/...
April 14, 2021
How do we teach children to remain calm in the face of a serious situation but to also recognize it's seriousness? By example I guess. I feel Jane Yolen and Heidi E. Y. Stemple totally minimized the seriousness of some of these situations. I think they compared tornados, hurricanes, and floods to common place winter storms. Rather than cast them off as unimportant events they should have taken the time explore the bravery and courage it takes to climb those basement stairs after you heard glass breaking, and trees snapping after a tornado... How as humans we need to face the damage and get to work. They should have explored how thankful we need to be when our home has escaped damage but others weren't so fortunate.
January 30, 2022
I am truly struggling with this book. It's part of our state's picture book award program and it disturbs me deeply and I am not looking forward to sharing it with my K-2 students. I can't help but think of the huge storms, fires, etc., that have swept through our country since the book was written and how many people have lost their lives, family members, their homes, their entire towns, yet this book reassures children when it's over you sweep up the branches, clean the windows, and all is well. I understand it's important to teach children bravery in the face of danger, and resiliency, but I also feel it minimizes the enormous danger and fear and heartbreaking tragedy that so many people go through. Reading other reviews, I see that I am not alone with this opinion.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 201 reviews