Yesterday We Had a Hurricane

by Deirdre McLaughlin Mercier

Strongly recommended for parents and educators by - School Library Journal, - Children's Book Watch - About.com Children's Books (A top 10 web resource as rated by the Nielsen NetRatings) Yesterday We Had a Hurricane tells the experience of a hurricane as seen through the eyes of a young child. Young readers will learn all about these "big storms that come from the ocean." They'll find out about the effects of wind and rain, as well as some of the more lighthearted and practical alternatives to doing without electricity.

Genres: Picture Books

40 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2006

Reviews

[Charly Carbray]

Yesterday We Had A Hurricane is a picture book written and illustrated by Deirdre McLaughlin that I think is best suited for young children, but I chose to include it in this lesson anyways. Everything about this book puts a positive spin on a terrible situation, which I think is necessary with some of the other books that I have chosen to include. Hurricane’s are sad stories, so I was glad to find a book that was more upbeat. The illustrations are all bordered, which I think is important for the stories basis of happening yesterday. As a reader, it feels like I’m seeing photographs of something that has happened. In the drawings talking about trees falling over and power lines snapping, the illustrations break out of their border in a sort of sharp-ish way that seems fitting for a hurricane. One thing that I really thought this book added to the set was that it talked a little more about power outages. Even without a hurricane, students might experience power outages somewhat regularly so I would have in class discussions about preparation or past experiences. For example, asking the class if their families have emergency flashlights?

[Ashley Shrum]

I would read this book to show more information about hurricanes if we are talking about them in class.

[Stacy Renee (LazyDayLit)]

Read for our 1st grade Science unit on hurricanes.

[Ryan Gray]

Yesterday we had a hurricane is a great book to cover the issue of hurricanes for young children. Although this book is not as prevalent to me as I live in Arizona, it would be a great book for children who live closer to the coast. This story explains the problems associated with hurricanes and how to deal with those problems through the eyes of a young girl. This story would most definitely help children who have recently experienced a loss due to hurricanes to cope with this issue. In addition this story is written in English as well as Spanish which I found to be a great way to reach out to all children who may go through this traumatic event. Another interesting thing about this book is how the text even appears to be written by the young girl who is narrating the story.

[Becky Martin]

This story is told from the point of view of a child who experienced a hurricane. She recalls the water filling up around them, the power outages her family face, the wild winds rushing by her window, and even the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches her father made her. While the text and images show the chaotic nature of the hurricane, the circumstances are not necessarily horrible. Because the point of view is from a child, I believe she sees it more as an experience than a tragedy. Her view of hurricanes had some negatives and even some positives because it was new. The images in this book were created using paper cutouts. These cutouts were then photographed to be put into this book. The book is also in Spanish so that English language learning students can read it as well.

[Takeisha Hannor]

A very interesting book to teach small children a lesson on hurricanes. This book is good for ELLs because they get a chance to read the story in English and Spanish. These colorful illustrations will connect students to the book and it is a great resource book.

[Terry]

After our first reading, our preschooler wanted to go back and look at the pictures some more. There were lots of additional questions about hurricanes and what happens. Keep reading ...