Book In Review

        Tsunamis, a book in the Natural Disasters series was published by Smart Apple Media.   There are six books in the series.   One subject for each book; they are as follows:  Droughts, Earthquakes, Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Volcanoes: and again, the book we are discussing today is Tsunamis.

          This book is filled with many colorful pictures, charts and illustrations.  While the subject is about the destructive force of tsunamis…it takes special care to explain how a tsunami is formed; and about the care that has been taken to develop warning systems.

         While a young child might find the pictures disturbing, of the damaged buildings and properties, there are no pictures of dead human bodies. Certainly the words discuss this great loss but the pictures have shown more of the damage in the areas of damage to inanimate objects.

           For the child who reads, the book does well explaining how tsunamis are triggered.   It explains the cause and effect of the earth’s shifting of it’s tectonic plates; or eruptions of underwater volcanoes, and of the power of an earthquake’s effect on the movement of the ocean’s water.

         There is one picture that stands out, in my mind, of people standing on the beach where the water has receeded, staring out to sea; farther out there are two much larger ridges of waves crashing towards the humans as they realize the danger they are in.  It is a strong visual of the human being’s fascination with the power of nature even when common sense says to flee. 

       Finally, there is an important passage about disaster relief and the high cost of rebuilding these communities.  It communicates to the reader how important it is for nations to work together when disaster strikes.

      Tsunamis was written by Louise Parks and it was published in 2008.   The  publisher has a couple of websites that can be visited.  The first of the websites:  http://www.macmillan.com.au/ and the other is http://www.macmillanlibrary.com.au/; macmillan is one of the best out there for publishing books kids want to read.