Caroline Starr Rose

award-winning picture book and middle-grade author

A Hurricane Katrina Reading List for Young People

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hurricane books

I ran this post just last month to point readers toward books similar to my Over in the Wetlands: A Hurricane-on-the-Bayou Story. With the tenth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina upon us, it felt like the right time to share it again.

This list includes picture books and novels about Katrina, “the single most catastrophic disaster in US History,” stories about other storms, and a collection of books about the wetlands.

Picture Books about Hurricanes and Storms

Hurricane! by Jonathan London
Blue on Blue by Dianne White
The Storm by Kathy Henderson
Big Wind Coming! by Karen English
Waiting Out the Storm by JoAnn Early Macken
Clifford and the Big Storm by Norman Bridwell

Novels about Hurricanes

Storm Runners by Roland Smith
Dark Water Rising by Marian Hale
The Night of the Hurricane’s Fury by Candice Ransom
The Great Storm: The Hurricane Diary of J. T. King, Galveston, Texas, 1900  by Lisa Waller Rogers

Katrina Picture Books

A Storm Called Katrina by Myron Uhlberg
A Place Where Hurricanes Happen by Shadra Stickland
Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship, and Survival by Kirby Larson

Katrina Novels

I Survived Hurricane Katrina by Lauren Tarshis
Zane and the Hurricane: A Story of Katrina by Rodman Philbrick
Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes
Hooper Finds a Family: A Hurricane Katrina Dog’s Survival Tale by Jane Paley
Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie Lamana
Saint Louis Armstrong Beach by Brenda Woods
Another Kind of Hurricane by Tamara Ellis Smith

Picture Books about Wetlands

Deep in the Swamp by Donna M. Bateman
Liza Lou And The Yeller Belly Swamp by Mercer Mayer
Everglades by Jean Craighead George
Here Is the Wetland  by Madeleine Dunphy
Near One Cattail: Turtles, Logs And Leaping Frogs by Anthony D. Fredericks
Babies in the Bayou by Jim Arnosky

Novels about Wetlands

The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame
The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Chomp by Carl Hiaasen
Bayou Magic by Jewell Parker Rhodes
The Healing Spell by Kimberley Griffiths Little
Circle of Secrets by Kimberley Griffiths Little
The Time of the Fireflies by Kimberley Griffiths Little

Here are a few more titles in listings from Publisher’s Weekly and School Library Journal .

 

 

A Wetlands Story Time in Pictures

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Instead of a launch party for Over in the Wetlands, I lead story time at the Albuquerque/Bernalillo County Library‘s Cherry Hills branch. Think stories, games, coloring pages, and gator cookies.

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Reading Wetlands by Cathryn Sill.

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Explaining the three things we needed to “make” a hurricane: wind, waves, and rain. Look at that handsome boy of mine on the right!

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And the other handsome one! (Incidentally, this is what happens when the Rose boys take over the camera).

 

Resilience and Restoration

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I moved to Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana in 2007, a few months short of Hurricane Katrina’s second anniversary. To see the marks of devastation New Orleans still carried, to hear the daily conversations, it was clear Katrina, “the single most catastrophic natural disaster in U.S. history,” had left a lasting impact on countless lives.

What was completely unknown to me was the plight of Louisiana’s wetlands. Louisiana, which contains approximately 40% of the nation’s wetlands, experiences 90% of the coastal wetland loss in the lower 48 states. The state loses 25 to 35 square miles of wetlands per year. If nothing is done to alter this, all of Terrebonne, along with other coastal parishes, will be underwater by 2050.

Follow me over to The Nerdy Book Club to read the rest.

Help Author Veronica Bartles: Bid on Blue Birds and Wetlands

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From SCBWI-NM:

Veronica Bartles and family are due to move back to Maryland this August. While on a trip back to Maryland to check on their home, Veronica discovered some pipes had burst. There was water damage to the entire house, and it was overtaken with mold. The insurance company won’t cover any of the damage because the damage wasn’t found soon enough, voiding the policy.

Veronica Bartles has been a vital part of our local chapter of SCBWI for the last few years. She and her family are facing not only a move but an enormous financial responsibility in repairing their home. On their own. Emily Moore has arranged an auction to raise money for the Bartles family, and I’ve donated an ARC of Blue Birds and a finished copy of Over in the Wetlands. Opening bids start at $10. If you are a writer, there are a variety of other items that will interest you, from critiques to phone consultations with writers and agents.

Blue Birds auction page
Wetlands auction page

I encourage you to consider participating and would be thrilled if you spread the word. The auction closes Friday, 7/31.

It’s Been a Long Time Coming…

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Oh my goodness, this book.

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I wrote it in 2008 (which, looking back, was a very good year for me. I finished my first draft of May B., wrote Wetlands, and had my first inkling of an idea for Blue Birds).

Over in the Wetlands didn’t sell until early 2012. And finally, three and a half years later, I can proudly say this special picture book releases tomorrow!

On Friday I’m giving away three copies and three Wetlands posters through my newsletter. The poster is a two-for-one treasure — the back has discussion questions and activity pages for teachers and librarians to photocopy and share with young readers. If you’d like a chance to win a book and poster, simply sign up for my newsletter here. It’s an e-publication that comes directly to your inbox just three to four times a year and is an easy, low-key way to keep up with my books, events, and the like.

Here’s to a book that’s been a long time in the making. Happy Book Birthday, Wetlands!

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