What Makes a Blizzard?

Written by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld
Illustrated by Maddie Frost
Published in 2018

Why we chose this book:
We continue to sample our library's new acquisitions and are trying to add more scientific texts to our repertoire. Also, T asks too many weather questions I can't answer — I am really in need of some refreshing in elementary science.

Mom and Son's Review

An historic blizzard of 1888 is described, followed by an explanation of how blizzards form.

Appealing pictures and a dramatic story interested T at the start of this book. As we read about the cause of blizzards, however, I had to re-explain many concepts. He frequently asked me, "What does that mean?" and we stopped reading to talk about it. The book's diagrams were helpful in explaining how warm and cold fronts meet, and the activities sparked his interest. Next time it snows he wants to catch flakes on black paper and look at them under a magnifying glass!

Here's what we talked about as we read:

As we start to read about snow piling up:
Son: I would like to be out in that snow.

Mom: Well, this snow is moving really fast. The wind could knock you over. Would you want that?

Son: That would be okay because I like making snow angels!

Looking at the cold and warm fronts diagram:
Son: I like that redness.

Mom: Can I explain what that is...it's where the warm air is.

Son: And show me cold air.

Mom: This blue section is cold air, and here is where they bump. You get storms where they bump.

Son: Okay, I want to know why that happens.

As we turn to an activity page:
Son: Oh, oh, oh. She has earmuffs too!
(I wear earmuffs.)

Mom: I like that you pointed that out. This shows a project we can do next time it snows.

Son: We should!
(It didn't matter that he had no idea what the kids were doing, he already wanted to do it!)

After finishing the book:
Mom: So what did you learn from this book?

Son: "nuffin"

Mom: You didn't learn anything? What about when cold and warm air meet?

Son: I learned that the cold air pushes up the warm air and the water falls out.


I certainly refreshed my weather knowledge, and T now has a foundation.