Under the Weather: Stories About Climate Change

by Tony Bradman (Editor)

Overview

From the effects of rising sea levels to changes in animal behaviour and human lifestyles, these powerful stories portray the issues surrounding climate change in personal terms and so bring them vividly to life. Offering warnings and inspiration in equal measure, the stories cover a wide range of localities from Siberia and Canada to Australia, UK, Sri Lanka and the Philippines. Writers include award-winning Linda Newbery as well as exciting newcomers like Australia's George Ivanoff. Whether read from cover to cover or dipped into for one or two stories, this book will enlighten and inspire everyone to consider how climate change will affect us all.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781781010808
Publisher:	Lincoln, Frances Limited
Publication date:	03/01/2012
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	224
File size:	493 KB
Age Range:	10 - 13 Years

About the Author

Tony Bradman has written more than 50 books for children. Well-known as a children's book reviewer for Parents magazine, he also founded the Best Book for Babies Award. His books for Frances Lincoln are Has Anyone Seen Jack?, Look Out He's Behind You, This Little Baby, Through my Window, and he edited the story anthologies Give Me Shelter and Under the Weather. Bradman lives in Kent, U.K.

Table of Contents

Introduction 7

How to Build the Perfect Sandcastle Candy Gourlay 13

Sea Canaries Susan Sandercock 39

As Busy As? Francis McCrickard 53

Tommo and the Bike Train Miriam Halahmy 89

Climate [Short] Change Lily Hyde 115

Moonlight Karen Ball 137

Future Dreaming George Ivanoff 159

Wasters Linda Newbery 285

Now Meet the Authors? 211

Editorial Reviews

An impressive collection.

'powerful stories about the effects of climate change'

'powerful stories about the effects of climate change'

An impressive collection.

A thought-provoking collection.

From the Publisher

Gr 4–7—Eight stories by a variety of authors attempt to make the facts about climate change and its global ramifications relevant to today's children. The majority of the selections are about youngsters enacting change and working toward solutions in tangible ways. For example, "How to Build the Perfect Sandcastle" is about a Philippino boy who works to rebuild the coral reefs, which are dying due to the rise in ocean temperature. Particularly heart-wrenching is "Moonlight," in which Amanthi, a tea picker in Sri Lanka, dies of malaria, leaving her young brothers to fend for themselves. "Climate [Short] Change" is a highly nuanced tale describing the tenuous relationship between the European scientists researching climate change and the native Siberians struggling to survive in an ever-changing environment. A few stories veer toward the didactic and might not be as well received. Overall, though, this is a worthwhile effort that will appeal to children wanting to make a difference in their world as well as to teachers trying to make the scientific reality of climate change real to their students.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY

School Library Journal

From disappearing coral reefs, beaches and bees to increased incidence of floods and malaria, eight short stories illustrate varied effects of climate change around the world. This timely collection comes from England, but its stories are set around the globe and through time, from the Philippines to Sri Lanka and from today to far in the future. The protagonists are young people whose personal worlds are changing and who want to make a difference. Watching belugas in Manitoba, a girl determines to be a marine biologist; disturbing dreams, perhaps from the future, convince another to start a school compost bin. Further afield, a boy in northern Siberia watches the efforts of foreign scientists studying climate change but ignoring its effects on the local culture. Some stories are hopeful, but others are surprisingly bleak; one main character dies. Experiencing these individual stories may help students imagine an issue that previously seemed abstract. The message is clear, but readers may come away more overwhelmed by the magnitude of the problem than motivated to address it. Author biographies are appended. (Short stories. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews