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Children's Fiction Weather

Island Storm

by (author) Brian Floca

illustrated by Sydney Smith

Publisher
Candlewick Press
Initial publish date
Jun 2025
Category
Weather, Camping & Outdoor Activities, Siblings
  • Hardback

    ISBN
    9780823456475
    Publish Date
    Jun 2025
    List Price
    $25.99

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Where to buy it

Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels

  • Age: 4 to 8
  • Grade: p to 3

Description

In Caldecott Medalist Brian Floca and acclaimed illustrator Sydney Smith’s thrilling picture book, young readers will experience the sheer power of a violent thunderstorm and the calm of its aftermath.

Can you tell when a storm is coming? Can you feel the wind coming and growing? Do you hear the branches bouncing together, hear the whispers of the wind through the leaves?

Join in the journey as two siblings bear witness to the steady start, thrilling apex, and gentle end of this island storm. They’ll shelter soon, but first they want to feel it all.

Sydney Smith is the winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international distinction given to authors and illustrators of children's books, and his illustrations are fantastically textured and visually spectacular. Paired with Brian Floca’s eloquent, rhythmic text, Island Storm is a multi-sensory experience that will amaze and delight readers. Children who fear thunder can take comfort in seeing it captured in the pages, while those who relish watching the sky crack open can enjoy battling this storm from the comfort of their homes.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

About the authors

Brian Floca's profile page

Sydney Smith was born in rural Nova Scotia and has been drawing from an early age. Since graduating from NSCAD University, he has illustrated multiple children’s books, including the highly acclaimed wordless picture book Sidewalk Flowers, conceived by Jon Arno Lawson, which won a Governor General’s Award, was named a New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book and has been long-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal. He is also the illustrator of Grant and Tillie Go Walking by Monica Kulling and The White Cat and the Monk by Jo Ellen Bogart, both highly acclaimed. Sydney has received a number of other awards for his illustrations, including the Lillian Shepherd Memorial Award for Excellence in Illustration. He now lives in Toronto and works in a shared studio space in Chinatown.

Sydney Smith's profile page

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