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The Storm
Because of a destructive tornado, Jonathan's classmates and other people may see the wheelchair-bound boy in a new light, may see him and not just his wheelchair. By the author of A Little Excitement. Jr Lib Guild.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 1995
1 person is currently reading
65 people want to read
About the author
Marc Harshman
35 books12 followersMarc Harshman is the poet laureate of West Virginia, appointed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin in May 2012. His poems have appeared in such publications as Shenandoah, The Georgia Review, The Progressive, Appalachian Heritage, Bateau, and Fourteen Hills. Other poems have been anthologized by Kent State University, the University of Iowa, University of Georgia, and the University of Arizona.
His eleven children's books include ONLY ONE, a Reading Rainbow review title on PBS TV and THE STORM, a Junior Library Guild selection and Smithsonian Notable Book Parent's Choice Award recipient. Booklist has called this same title "a knowing book that will speak to all children about self-image and hard-won success."
Mr. Harshman was honored in 1994 by receiving the Ezra Jack Keats/ Kerlan Collection Fellowship from the University of Minnesota for research of Scandinavian myth and folklore. He was also named the West Virginia State English Teacher of the Year by the West Virginia English Language Arts Council in 1995. More recently, he was named the recipient of the WV Arts Commission Fellowship in Poetry for the year 2000 and the Fellowship in Children's Literature for 2008. His children's titles have been published in Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Danish, and Swedish.
Marc is fondly known by many as a storyteller who served for over twenty years as a judge for the WV Liar's Contest held at the Vandalia Gathering in Charleston, WV. He has also served as an instructor for the historic Appalachian Writer's Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, KY.
Marc holds degrees from Bethany College, Yale Divinity School, and the University of Pittsburgh. He recently received an honorary doctorate from Bethany College in recognition of his life's work.
In honor of West Virginia's Sesquicentennial, Marc was commissioned by the Wheeling National Heritage Area to write a poem celebrating this event. This poem, "A Song for West Virginia," was presented in both Charleston and Wheeling as part of the day-long festivities held that day.
His eleven children's books include ONLY ONE, a Reading Rainbow review title on PBS TV and THE STORM, a Junior Library Guild selection and Smithsonian Notable Book Parent's Choice Award recipient. Booklist has called this same title "a knowing book that will speak to all children about self-image and hard-won success."
Mr. Harshman was honored in 1994 by receiving the Ezra Jack Keats/ Kerlan Collection Fellowship from the University of Minnesota for research of Scandinavian myth and folklore. He was also named the West Virginia State English Teacher of the Year by the West Virginia English Language Arts Council in 1995. More recently, he was named the recipient of the WV Arts Commission Fellowship in Poetry for the year 2000 and the Fellowship in Children's Literature for 2008. His children's titles have been published in Spanish, Japanese, Korean, Danish, and Swedish.
Marc is fondly known by many as a storyteller who served for over twenty years as a judge for the WV Liar's Contest held at the Vandalia Gathering in Charleston, WV. He has also served as an instructor for the historic Appalachian Writer's Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School in Hindman, KY.
Marc holds degrees from Bethany College, Yale Divinity School, and the University of Pittsburgh. He recently received an honorary doctorate from Bethany College in recognition of his life's work.
In honor of West Virginia's Sesquicentennial, Marc was commissioned by the Wheeling National Heritage Area to write a poem celebrating this event. This poem, "A Song for West Virginia," was presented in both Charleston and Wheeling as part of the day-long festivities held that day.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
August 9, 2011
This is a wonderful and exciting tale about a tornado that strikes a farm and the ability of a young, wheelchair-bound boy to calm the family's horses during the crisis. This book was nominated for the June 2011 Persons Facing Physical Challenges discussion at the Picture-Book Club in the Children's Books group here at Goodreads. It was not selected as one of the month's books, but it really piqued my interest and got some good reviews, so we thought we'd check it out.
It's a terrific example of determination and depicts a young boy's abilities, resilience and independence. It also explains how focusing on a person's disabilities can be frustrating and upsetting for people. The illustrations complement the story nicely and I like that the story is as much about the immense power and destruction of the storm as it is about the boy. We really enjoyed reading this book together.
It's a terrific example of determination and depicts a young boy's abilities, resilience and independence. It also explains how focusing on a person's disabilities can be frustrating and upsetting for people. The illustrations complement the story nicely and I like that the story is as much about the immense power and destruction of the storm as it is about the boy. We really enjoyed reading this book together.
March 5, 2018
A good book about using our abilities regardless of how others see us. Jonathan is confined to a wheelchair after being hit by a car. He feels singled out and doesn't like it. One afternoon on his farm there is a tornado and Jonathan not only saves himself but the horses as well.
January 12, 2018
I used this book as an example of realistic fiction with my fifth graders. They loved it!
January 31, 2019
This was unexpected! It had a LOT of text. The boy is in a wheelchair after a car accident, so there are some heavier themes here. We enjoyed the illustrations a lot.
March 6, 2019
Jonathan is in a wheelchair but the moral is you are more than your “condition”
October 23, 2012
Summary
This book is about a boy named Jonathan who was confined to a wheelchair. It takes place in a small farm town in Indiana. It begins with Jonathan sitting in class while his teacher is teaching the class about tornados and what they should do if they ever encountered one. Well one child in the class makes a remark that Jonathan should be extra scared of them because of his "condition" of being in a wheelchair. This really hurt Jonathan and he began to get flashbacks of the day he was hit by a car and became paralyzed in his legs. When he went home his mother explained how she had to go get the car fixed and his father was still out, and it looked like a storm might be rolling in so if it did, he was to get all the horses in the barn. After a while he was with the horses and the sky grew darker and darker. He began putting the horses in the shed when out of nowhere, a huge tornado drops from the sky right down the road from his house. The horses freak out and escaped and he had to risk his life saving them. After the storm passed he was still alive and well and he had saved the horses lives. The damage he witnessed when he went outside the barn was incredible. Everything was destroyed and through all of this chaos, he was able to risk his life to save his horses because he knew his dad would be hurt if they all died. When his parents finally come home they were glad to see he was ok and Jonathan hoped now that when word spread around, people would look at him as not just a crippled boy, but someone who could do amazing things just as well as everyone else.
Reflection
I rated this book 5 stars, I really enjoyed it. I think this book is great because in involves the information on storms and tornados which is very cool to learn about and interesting, but then at the same time it has a back-story lesson on being handicapped and how even if you are, you can still accomplish anything that regular people can accomplish. I think Jonathan was brave for willing to go out to save the horses and i know most people who could walk would even be too scared to do what he did. I think this is a very inspiring story with a good moral lesson.
Classroom Connection
This book would be good for two reasons, I would either connect this book to a lesson on storms like having the class make those tornado funnel clouds out of two liter bottles and water, that way they can make their own funnel clouds and see what they look like up close and safely. Also you could have the kids do a report on storms, assign each kid or group depending on the size of the class a different type or natural disaster and have then research it and do a report over it. Talk about what it is, how or why it happens, and what are some safety precautions people can do to stay safe. The other way this could connect to the class would be doing something relating to the disability part of this story. I think it would be cool if I had a 4th or 5th grade class and i would have them research on a person with a disability who did something extraordinary and to a report about that person and what they did. I think this would help the class realize that just because someone is disabled does not mean they are any less of a person.
Text Complexity
Lexile 860L, Grade Level Equivalent 4.1, Interest Level K-2, Guided Reading Not Available
This book is about a boy named Jonathan who was confined to a wheelchair. It takes place in a small farm town in Indiana. It begins with Jonathan sitting in class while his teacher is teaching the class about tornados and what they should do if they ever encountered one. Well one child in the class makes a remark that Jonathan should be extra scared of them because of his "condition" of being in a wheelchair. This really hurt Jonathan and he began to get flashbacks of the day he was hit by a car and became paralyzed in his legs. When he went home his mother explained how she had to go get the car fixed and his father was still out, and it looked like a storm might be rolling in so if it did, he was to get all the horses in the barn. After a while he was with the horses and the sky grew darker and darker. He began putting the horses in the shed when out of nowhere, a huge tornado drops from the sky right down the road from his house. The horses freak out and escaped and he had to risk his life saving them. After the storm passed he was still alive and well and he had saved the horses lives. The damage he witnessed when he went outside the barn was incredible. Everything was destroyed and through all of this chaos, he was able to risk his life to save his horses because he knew his dad would be hurt if they all died. When his parents finally come home they were glad to see he was ok and Jonathan hoped now that when word spread around, people would look at him as not just a crippled boy, but someone who could do amazing things just as well as everyone else.
Reflection
I rated this book 5 stars, I really enjoyed it. I think this book is great because in involves the information on storms and tornados which is very cool to learn about and interesting, but then at the same time it has a back-story lesson on being handicapped and how even if you are, you can still accomplish anything that regular people can accomplish. I think Jonathan was brave for willing to go out to save the horses and i know most people who could walk would even be too scared to do what he did. I think this is a very inspiring story with a good moral lesson.
Classroom Connection
This book would be good for two reasons, I would either connect this book to a lesson on storms like having the class make those tornado funnel clouds out of two liter bottles and water, that way they can make their own funnel clouds and see what they look like up close and safely. Also you could have the kids do a report on storms, assign each kid or group depending on the size of the class a different type or natural disaster and have then research it and do a report over it. Talk about what it is, how or why it happens, and what are some safety precautions people can do to stay safe. The other way this could connect to the class would be doing something relating to the disability part of this story. I think it would be cool if I had a 4th or 5th grade class and i would have them research on a person with a disability who did something extraordinary and to a report about that person and what they did. I think this would help the class realize that just because someone is disabled does not mean they are any less of a person.
Text Complexity
Lexile 860L, Grade Level Equivalent 4.1, Interest Level K-2, Guided Reading Not Available
October 9, 2021
Cool art and an absolutely amazing narrative. I loved the writing voice. I’ve lived in the west United States my whole life and have thus never experienced tornado weather, but I felt like I really understood what it was like. Awesome narrative with awesome lessons (kids can do hard things, they are capable of more than people can first see, etc.).
(PG rating)
(PG rating)
February 27, 2016
This is a amizing history about a storm and I want to read.
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May 18, 2015A boy who is home alone in his wheelchair survives a tornado.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews