Turn and Learn: Weather by Isabel Otter and Hannah Tolson

Turn and Learn: Weather is a fabulous picture book which looks at five different kinds of weather. It’s a beautifully illustrated, novelty non fiction book which has a magic slider on each double spread. The different types of weather are explained through a ‘What is…?’ question before giving more details about the roles different kinds of weather play and how it can affect us.

Turn and Learn: Weather starts by telling us about the sun, how it was formed, the important role that it plays in nature and how shadows are formed. The slider looks at why plants need sun to survive.

Next comes rain and a description of how clouds are formed, what rain is and how rainbows are formed. The slider on this page takes a detailed look at the water cycle and the fact that our water is constantly recycled.

Wind, breezes, hurricanes and tornados blow through the next page with an explanation of how winds blow and why the earth relies on wind. The slider looks at tornadoes and the effect they can have on buildings and vehicles.

The importance of snow and ice is explored with explanations about why The Arctic and Antarctic are always cold. The differences between hailstones, sleet and powder snow are interesting and the slider takes a look at icebergs. Finally we have storms with explanations of how thunder and lightning occur and what kind of conditions cause storms.

Each double spread has an overview of the weather then smaller boxes of relevant information. The slider is on the right hand side of the spread and is moved by pulling a blue ribbon. Hannah Tolson’s fabulous illustrations provide the background for short paragraphs of information.

Turn and Learn: Weather would be a fabulous book to incorporate in a weather topic in Key Stage One and Two classrooms. We learnt lot of really interesting weather facts including why deserts are very hot during the day, why it is windier by the sea and the difference between cloud to ground lightning and cloud to cloud lightning.

Age Range: 6 +

Author: Isabel Otter / Illustrator: Hannah Tolson

Thank you to Little Tiger Press for sending Turn and Learn: Weather.

We also enjoyed Turn and Learn: Our World which gives information about five different habitats and traditions of the people who live in them.