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The Great American Dust Bowl: A Graphic Novel – Don Brown's Illustrated History of the Catastrophic 1930s
A speck of dust is a tiny thing. In fact, five of them could fit into the period at the end of this sentence.
On a clear, warm Sunday, April 14, 1935, a wild wind whipped up millions upon millions of these specks of dust to form a duster—a savage storm—on America's high southern plains.
The sky turned black, sand-filled winds scoured the paint off houses and cars, trains derailed, and electricity coursed through the air. Sand and dirt fell like snow—people got lost in the gloom and suffocated . . . and that was just the beginning.
Don Brown brings the Dirty Thirties to life with kinetic, highly saturated, and lively artwork in this graphic novel of one of America's most catastrophic natural events: the Dust Bowl.
On a clear, warm Sunday, April 14, 1935, a wild wind whipped up millions upon millions of these specks of dust to form a duster—a savage storm—on America's high southern plains.
The sky turned black, sand-filled winds scoured the paint off houses and cars, trains derailed, and electricity coursed through the air. Sand and dirt fell like snow—people got lost in the gloom and suffocated . . . and that was just the beginning.
Don Brown brings the Dirty Thirties to life with kinetic, highly saturated, and lively artwork in this graphic novel of one of America's most catastrophic natural events: the Dust Bowl.
80 pages, Paperback
First published October 8, 2013
36 people are currently reading
2630 people want to read
About the author
Don Brown
48 books148 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. School Library Journal has called him "a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies." He lives in New York with his family.
Don Brown is the award-winning author and illustrator of many picture book biographies. He has been widely praised for his resonant storytelling and his delicate watercolor paintings that evoke the excitement, humor, pain, and joy of lives lived with passion. School Library Journal has called him "a current pacesetter who has put the finishing touches on the standards for storyographies." He lives in New York with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 457 reviews
July 27, 2019
I've heard plenty about the dust bowl, but this does a great job of explaining the scope. This event was happening for more than 10 years. A dust storm would come up and it could blow the dust all the way to DC and the ocean. I simply cannot imagine.
Isn't it so interesting the lesson we have to learn when we think we are smarter than mother nature. They cleared the land of all the prairie grasses that held the soil down and poof, it all went into the air. We learned more about trees and they did plant those prairie grasses back and it finally began to help.
I can't imagine what some of those people went through. People died from too much dirt in their lungs. Herds of animals died. The dust was so find, it could seep through windows and homes. I simply can't imagine and don't want too. It's probably similar to that dust storm that hit Sydney, Australia a few years back and it looked like Mars or some other alien planet.
This was informative and interesting. I enjoyed reading this and learning about history at the same time. It's a great way to gather more history. I'll look for some more. It's creepy. They have some pictures at the back. Whoa.
Isn't it so interesting the lesson we have to learn when we think we are smarter than mother nature. They cleared the land of all the prairie grasses that held the soil down and poof, it all went into the air. We learned more about trees and they did plant those prairie grasses back and it finally began to help.
I can't imagine what some of those people went through. People died from too much dirt in their lungs. Herds of animals died. The dust was so find, it could seep through windows and homes. I simply can't imagine and don't want too. It's probably similar to that dust storm that hit Sydney, Australia a few years back and it looked like Mars or some other alien planet.
This was informative and interesting. I enjoyed reading this and learning about history at the same time. It's a great way to gather more history. I'll look for some more. It's creepy. They have some pictures at the back. Whoa.
April 18, 2025
Perfect example of a GN that is suited for both children and adults; would be wonderful to read to children as an example of how our country has made it through bad times in the past - fantastic art. Would recommend this book to those who still do not believe that we are capable of changing weather patterns for the worse.
January 16, 2014
This is a short, quick, easy read, a history lesson in the most attractive packaging imaginable. Brown's text is simply presented, but thoroughly researched. I loved that he had the scientific explanations for the dust storms as well as first hand accounts. And I was delighted to see that he did cite his sources at the end. I don't always see this in adult nonfiction, much less a middle grade graphic novel.
But the art is going to be the star for most readers, including me. The cover is absolutely spectacular, and it's an accurate representation of what you'll find inside. It's beautiful and evocative, in sepia tones that are perfect for the time period (it just feels 1930s, which is probably the influence of The Wizard of Oz at work) and the subject. It looks and feels dusty, which is absolutely perfect.
It's far too short to be anything but an introduction to the subject, but as such it's admirably thorough and very readable. And the cover is so fantastic that I can picture a lot of people picking this up to read it, even someone who would not have normally read a nonfiction graphic novel.
But the art is going to be the star for most readers, including me. The cover is absolutely spectacular, and it's an accurate representation of what you'll find inside. It's beautiful and evocative, in sepia tones that are perfect for the time period (it just feels 1930s, which is probably the influence of The Wizard of Oz at work) and the subject. It looks and feels dusty, which is absolutely perfect.
It's far too short to be anything but an introduction to the subject, but as such it's admirably thorough and very readable. And the cover is so fantastic that I can picture a lot of people picking this up to read it, even someone who would not have normally read a nonfiction graphic novel.
February 25, 2019
4 stars
I always like to have a graphic at hand to read. Some go quickly and others are a slower read. Some are good verbally, some are well illustrated. It is nice to find one that is both. This book was well illustrated and colorful. It also gave a lot of historical fact wrapped up in it's few pages.
This book tells of the 1930's Dust Bowl in America. Not the first dust storm to ever occur, but the period of time that seemed to hold the most dust storms, one after the other. How it effected the people, the air quality, the land, and the wildlife is addressed. A short book with a lasting history lesson.
Dust storms are a common phenomenon that is more likely to occur in a place like Iraq or a country mostly desert. However there have been gigantic dust storms recently in the United States. Additional pictures are included in this book.
I always like to have a graphic at hand to read. Some go quickly and others are a slower read. Some are good verbally, some are well illustrated. It is nice to find one that is both. This book was well illustrated and colorful. It also gave a lot of historical fact wrapped up in it's few pages.
This book tells of the 1930's Dust Bowl in America. Not the first dust storm to ever occur, but the period of time that seemed to hold the most dust storms, one after the other. How it effected the people, the air quality, the land, and the wildlife is addressed. A short book with a lasting history lesson.
Dust storms are a common phenomenon that is more likely to occur in a place like Iraq or a country mostly desert. However there have been gigantic dust storms recently in the United States. Additional pictures are included in this book.
November 5, 2013
Concise, well-researched, and easy-to-understand, this excellent graphic novel captures the horrible devastation of the Dust Bow catastrophe. A must have for classroom and school libraries.
March 7, 2014
Great nonfiction piece on what the dust bowl actually was. Brown talks about the environmental things that happened to make the world dusty, and talks in detail about the effects on the people living in the Midwest at the time.
His illustrations, though often grim, are aesthetically pleasing, and clean and clear. Many take the form of infographics.
He doesn't get down to personal stories, really. He's more focused on the more general experiences of people as a whole, and the macros of the situation. And of course, it's a pretty grim tale.
As such, I'm not sure what the hook is for booktalking to kids - which kids might pick this up on their own. It will be a great source for classroom study of the period, though. And I hope many teachers decide to use it. This is pretty painless history. And if you're even vaguely curious about the topic, you'll enjoy it too.
His illustrations, though often grim, are aesthetically pleasing, and clean and clear. Many take the form of infographics.
He doesn't get down to personal stories, really. He's more focused on the more general experiences of people as a whole, and the macros of the situation. And of course, it's a pretty grim tale.
As such, I'm not sure what the hook is for booktalking to kids - which kids might pick this up on their own. It will be a great source for classroom study of the period, though. And I hope many teachers decide to use it. This is pretty painless history. And if you're even vaguely curious about the topic, you'll enjoy it too.
January 26, 2014
I’m always drawn to this story, the story of the American Great Depression. It shaped my dad and mom and my parents’ generation, forming habits of thrift and care amid desperate times of worry and despair. I couldn’t pass up this new graphic novel for older children. And I’m glad I didn’t. Great American Dust Bowl uses startling pictures and words to share the story of that bleak time. Excellent.
August 19, 2013
A brilliant, dramatic, graphic chronicle of America's worst environmental catastrophe.
November 27, 2013
This is a brilliant graphic novel detailing the history of the Dust Bowl. I think I'll pair panels of it with passages from Out of the Dust.
December 22, 2024
Now I know where dirty thirties come from! As always, a very informative read on the dust storms in the thirties and the history behind it.
August 23, 2013
Richie's Picks: THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL by Don Brown, Houghton Mifflin, October 2013, 80p., ISBN: 978-0-547-81550-3
"As I lay me down to take my rest
I see that it's just dust in the wind"
-- Mark "Moogy" Klingman (1950-2011)
"The plain bordering the Rockies, despite its flatness, is still more than a thousand feet above sea level. It is a dry place: it receives no more than twenty inches of rain and snow a year, about half of what Georgia, Maine, or Oregon gets.
"Bison found the grass. Herds grew until there were tens of millions of bison.
"American Indians found the bison and made them the center of their culture, using them for food, clothing, and shelter. The Indians, the buffalo, the land, and the weather existed in a balance for more than a thousand years.
"Pioneers from the settled, eastern United States came to the plains in the nineteenth century. By 1876, they had pushed the Indians into reservations and slaughtered millions of bison. Ranchers and cattle replaced the Indians and buffalo.
"Ranchers were sure that the 'immensity of grass' that had supported the bison would sustain cattle. In the southern plains nearly eight hundred miles of barbed-wire fence penned in about 150,000 head of cattle.
"But cattle lacked the sturdiness of bison, and the summer heat and winter blizzards wiped them out.
"The ranchers' hard luck didn't darken their sales pitch when they decided to unload the land: farmers bought, somehow overlooking that the pledges of wealth came from the failed ranchers."
Want the real dirt on the Dust Bowl? For more than a decade the quality of Don Brown's picture book nonfiction and biographies for children have made him someone whose new books I automatically and excitedly sit down to read whenever they come along.
Brown's latest work, THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL, is no exception. As you can see (above), he is able in a couple of hundred words to provide a solid foundation for understanding the historical and geographic factors that would eventually lead up to the Dust Bowl and the terrible dust storm in 1935 that he portrays here in haunting images and interesting fact-filled text.
"'I thought it was the last day of the world.'"
Brown's narrative about the historic dust storm is so much more powerful because of his thorough researching which is documented in a Selected Bibliography and Source Notes.
Brown's account of these dust storms focuses in large part on crazy weird facts that are so entertaining and ripe for sharing with friends. For instance, the fact that kids ended up with brown-colored snowmen. That ceilings in some houses collapsed "from the weight of dust that had gathered in the attic." That "birds and jackrabbits and tumbleweeds all ran in front of the storm." That the dust traveled to and fell upon Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City. These are the sort of fascinating facts that provide a real grasp of what it was like and how immense it was.
"Men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn, drying fast now, only a little green showing though the film of dust."
-- from THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
There are some amazing pieces of American literature that are set in the days of the Dust Bowl. Young readers who are turned onto Don Brown's eye-catching introduction to this historic disaster -- which stemmed from the missteps of man and the unforgivingness of nature --will be far more interested and prepared when it comes time to read OUT OF THE DUST or THE GRAPES OF WRATH.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...
"As I lay me down to take my rest
I see that it's just dust in the wind"
-- Mark "Moogy" Klingman (1950-2011)
"The plain bordering the Rockies, despite its flatness, is still more than a thousand feet above sea level. It is a dry place: it receives no more than twenty inches of rain and snow a year, about half of what Georgia, Maine, or Oregon gets.
"Bison found the grass. Herds grew until there were tens of millions of bison.
"American Indians found the bison and made them the center of their culture, using them for food, clothing, and shelter. The Indians, the buffalo, the land, and the weather existed in a balance for more than a thousand years.
"Pioneers from the settled, eastern United States came to the plains in the nineteenth century. By 1876, they had pushed the Indians into reservations and slaughtered millions of bison. Ranchers and cattle replaced the Indians and buffalo.
"Ranchers were sure that the 'immensity of grass' that had supported the bison would sustain cattle. In the southern plains nearly eight hundred miles of barbed-wire fence penned in about 150,000 head of cattle.
"But cattle lacked the sturdiness of bison, and the summer heat and winter blizzards wiped them out.
"The ranchers' hard luck didn't darken their sales pitch when they decided to unload the land: farmers bought, somehow overlooking that the pledges of wealth came from the failed ranchers."
Want the real dirt on the Dust Bowl? For more than a decade the quality of Don Brown's picture book nonfiction and biographies for children have made him someone whose new books I automatically and excitedly sit down to read whenever they come along.
Brown's latest work, THE GREAT AMERICAN DUST BOWL, is no exception. As you can see (above), he is able in a couple of hundred words to provide a solid foundation for understanding the historical and geographic factors that would eventually lead up to the Dust Bowl and the terrible dust storm in 1935 that he portrays here in haunting images and interesting fact-filled text.
"'I thought it was the last day of the world.'"
Brown's narrative about the historic dust storm is so much more powerful because of his thorough researching which is documented in a Selected Bibliography and Source Notes.
Brown's account of these dust storms focuses in large part on crazy weird facts that are so entertaining and ripe for sharing with friends. For instance, the fact that kids ended up with brown-colored snowmen. That ceilings in some houses collapsed "from the weight of dust that had gathered in the attic." That "birds and jackrabbits and tumbleweeds all ran in front of the storm." That the dust traveled to and fell upon Chicago, Atlanta, Boston, Washington, D.C., and New York City. These are the sort of fascinating facts that provide a real grasp of what it was like and how immense it was.
"Men stood by their fences and looked at the ruined corn, drying fast now, only a little green showing though the film of dust."
-- from THE GRAPES OF WRATH by John Steinbeck
There are some amazing pieces of American literature that are set in the days of the Dust Bowl. Young readers who are turned onto Don Brown's eye-catching introduction to this historic disaster -- which stemmed from the missteps of man and the unforgivingness of nature --will be far more interested and prepared when it comes time to read OUT OF THE DUST or THE GRAPES OF WRATH.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...
September 19, 2017
This was an interesting and quick read. Some kids will find that they enjoy reading about true things while reading this book, but others may find that they would rather read fiction. I intend to use this as a book club selection for a group of preteens in the coming year, and thought of many ways to make our discussion both educational and fun for all of the students involved. We will have a look at my personal rock collection, including my most recent addition from Colorado; a look at my Great Grandpa's WWI helmet and gas mask; a large United States map to really show the details of the Dust Bowl and the dusters mentioned in a larger scale; some baby powder to show what talc feels like; and as our activity, I am currently thinking about the illustration on the final page and giving a brief history lesson of American Gothic and then letting the kids create their own artwork that represents themselves and one of their parents as that painting does. Regardless, I was inspired by this book, and I hope that the kiddos enjoy it and the activities to follow during our discussion!
December 1, 2015
There's nothing better than a book that in which you learn something or many somethings. This graphic novel taught me so much about the science behind dust storms and also the devastation that it cause that was not only to people and things, but the damage it cause to wildlife as well as tales about what would bring the rain, but like the recent book about the Irish famine that I read, I also didn't realize how long the dust storms lasted (nearly a decade) AND that they sometimes continue to kick up in the west still (with an image from Arizona from just a few years back).
The images are gorgeously drawn and who knew that browns like that could be as beautiful. It's also the glossy pages, the font and selection of narration and dialogue, and the portrayal of the passage of time.
The images are gorgeously drawn and who knew that browns like that could be as beautiful. It's also the glossy pages, the font and selection of narration and dialogue, and the portrayal of the passage of time.
November 27, 2013
Graphic novel on a great subject for illustrative interpretation.
December 8, 2015
Overview of the dust bowl. Whetted a thirst to consider taking time for The Worst Hard Times by Egan and Burns'/Duncan The Dust Bowl.
November 21, 2016
A great little historical graphic about the dust bowl. Very informative... I probably got just as much out of these 80 pages as I did out of a whole book I read on the subject!
November 7, 2022
3.5 stars
This is a nonfiction graphic novel depicting the “Dirty Thirties” – the dust storms that hit mostly Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Kansas. It is geared toward a YA audience. It also gives a bit of background leading up to the conditions that helped create the dust storms and the consequences to the people and farmers in the areas affected. In addition, the dust travelled to the eastern coast!
It’s short, but it has some nice (colour) illustrations, some of them coloured in so dark to represent the lack of visibility during the storms. There were even a few things I didn’t know about (or if I’ve read about them (this is likely) I’d forgotten – like the electric charges in the air). There were even a couple of real photographs included at the end, but not only 1 from a 1935 storm, but one from 2011, as well.
This is a nonfiction graphic novel depicting the “Dirty Thirties” – the dust storms that hit mostly Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Kansas. It is geared toward a YA audience. It also gives a bit of background leading up to the conditions that helped create the dust storms and the consequences to the people and farmers in the areas affected. In addition, the dust travelled to the eastern coast!
It’s short, but it has some nice (colour) illustrations, some of them coloured in so dark to represent the lack of visibility during the storms. There were even a few things I didn’t know about (or if I’ve read about them (this is likely) I’d forgotten – like the electric charges in the air). There were even a couple of real photographs included at the end, but not only 1 from a 1935 storm, but one from 2011, as well.
September 26, 2020
I had read a few books about the Dust Bowl and seen several PBS documentaries on the subject prior to picking up this graphic novel, so some of the information was not exactly new to me. This graphic novel does a great job at explaining the scope of the Dust Bowl, an ecological event that lasted up to the ten years. The background causes of this event are explained in a concise way as well as the impact it had on those in the direct line of the dust storms. A concise, easy-to-follow narrative to one of the major ecological events in American history.
June 11, 2015
Don Brown's graphic novel, The Great American Dust Bowl does a fantastic job of laying out the facts about the time in our country's history when the Dust Bowl was at its worst. He lays the foundation for the events by explaining the geology of the region, dating back to the creation of the Rocky Mountains, along with the ecological effects on the region as first the Native Americans and later the settlers lived on the land. He also explains the economic and historical significance of this time and how it all contributed to the dust bowl. Brown's descriptions of what these "awe-inspiring" storms were like are not glossed-over in any way to allow for the fact that the audience is primarily children. Brown describes the terrible storms and their myriad effects with honesty.
While the topic is serious, and the work Brown does to explain the "how" and "why" of the Dust Bowl is complicated, this book is in no way boring or off-putting. Brown's choice to make the book a graphic novel is really smart: the reader learns from the illustrations, the descriptions, and the words of the people of the time as they "speak" about their experiences. Visually the book is impressive. The print and illustrations are done in a palette of colors ranging from red through orange and yellow to every shade of brown. There's no green and very little blue to be found, and this emphasizes what the words in the text say. Brown even writes some of his text in swirls that mimic the rising, swirling dust. This is an excellent resource for learning about the various aspects of the Dust Bowl, but is also a great read to put into the hands of readers who enjoy informational texts.
April 15, 2015
Intermediate Selection:
1. Story plot is easy to follow, Don Brown uses flashback and revisits historically significant events leading up to the American Dust Bowl. I believe this will help students make connections to other events they may or may not have studied completely yet. However, if this graphic novel is being used in a classroom, the teacher may have to decide if these events are worthy of full studies. It is unfortunate the curricula do not align (at least in Lincoln) for this American History study with literature with our Social Studies standards. 8th grade is when students start American History while Dust Bowl literature is studied in 7th. I believe the panels are exceptional. I enjoyed the variety of formats that the illustrator used.
2. Application/Audience: English class, 7th grade. I picked this book from the shelf because of it’s connection to the curriculum. I think these would be a wonderful addition to the Out of Dust Bowl novel they already use. This visual rich text will help those below grade level students see what the prose is describing. I believe the language is frank and descriptive and not suitable for young students under 3rd grade.
3. I truly think the visual will do so much for the students in 7th grade, to really show them the hardships and struggles of this time period. I have always loved the Out of Dust Bowl prose and thought it was so descriptive. However after reading the article “Graphic Novels: The good, the bad, the ugly” and understanding the issue of truly struggling readers of seeing the idea being conveyed while trying to read word by word, I know that the low readers need more support in ‘seeing’ the meaning. I think this graphic novel will deliver.
1. Story plot is easy to follow, Don Brown uses flashback and revisits historically significant events leading up to the American Dust Bowl. I believe this will help students make connections to other events they may or may not have studied completely yet. However, if this graphic novel is being used in a classroom, the teacher may have to decide if these events are worthy of full studies. It is unfortunate the curricula do not align (at least in Lincoln) for this American History study with literature with our Social Studies standards. 8th grade is when students start American History while Dust Bowl literature is studied in 7th. I believe the panels are exceptional. I enjoyed the variety of formats that the illustrator used.
2. Application/Audience: English class, 7th grade. I picked this book from the shelf because of it’s connection to the curriculum. I think these would be a wonderful addition to the Out of Dust Bowl novel they already use. This visual rich text will help those below grade level students see what the prose is describing. I believe the language is frank and descriptive and not suitable for young students under 3rd grade.
3. I truly think the visual will do so much for the students in 7th grade, to really show them the hardships and struggles of this time period. I have always loved the Out of Dust Bowl prose and thought it was so descriptive. However after reading the article “Graphic Novels: The good, the bad, the ugly” and understanding the issue of truly struggling readers of seeing the idea being conveyed while trying to read word by word, I know that the low readers need more support in ‘seeing’ the meaning. I think this graphic novel will deliver.
April 16, 2015
1) This text is a nonfiction graphic novel about the events during the Dust Bowl. The plot is easy to follow and the panels are creatively illustrated. This would be a remarkable book to use for researching the topic. The story is easy to understand with the explanation of the changes in land preservation and developments from the ranching to farming of the soil. The larger pictures guide the reader to focus on issues of economy, erosion, effects on people and animals, and life during these difficult times.
2) This novel would be great to use with a research of the 1930's, the Dust Bowl, changes in the land, or changes in farming. It has large pictures with great detailed information. I would suggest it for advanced third grade readers into the middle school levels. The information is presented in chronological order and the student could easily place steps on a timeline for study. Within the same line of graphic novels, I found a great nonfiction text with 24-hour history. This book was titles D-Day by Agnieszka Biskup. Heinemann Library puts out a whole collection of books about nonfiction events such as wars. It would be wonderful to have different students reading different parts of the collections to share with the class. This would also spark interest in the nonfiction materials. Like the Dust Bowl, it would be for advanced third through sixth grade students.
3) I found this book to be delightful and learned great tidbits of information relating to the topic. I didn't find any cautions or concerns as the book is nonfiction.
2) This novel would be great to use with a research of the 1930's, the Dust Bowl, changes in the land, or changes in farming. It has large pictures with great detailed information. I would suggest it for advanced third grade readers into the middle school levels. The information is presented in chronological order and the student could easily place steps on a timeline for study. Within the same line of graphic novels, I found a great nonfiction text with 24-hour history. This book was titles D-Day by Agnieszka Biskup. Heinemann Library puts out a whole collection of books about nonfiction events such as wars. It would be wonderful to have different students reading different parts of the collections to share with the class. This would also spark interest in the nonfiction materials. Like the Dust Bowl, it would be for advanced third through sixth grade students.
3) I found this book to be delightful and learned great tidbits of information relating to the topic. I didn't find any cautions or concerns as the book is nonfiction.
June 22, 2017
I had only a vague idea of the true scope of the Dust Bowl before picking up this graphic novel, despite considering myself reasonably well-read on the subject (We all had to read Grapes of Wrath in high school, right? Just me? And I'm absolutely going to read The Worst Hard Time very soon. Any day now.) But Don Brown fills in the causes and horrifying effects of the Dust Bowl, not letting it remain vague, something we can consign to the forgotten past. What is this if not a tale of environmental devastation and completely relevant to readers now? I appreciated learning about the efforts to ensure that something like this doesn't happen again, including the WPA planting projects. Overall, I appreciated the careful timeline and explanations as well as the quick sketches of people's experiences, and will be ready with greater understanding when I finally get around to the rest of the books I really intend to read on the subject.
February 8, 2016
If you were drawn in by the cover art, like I was, you will not be disappointed. The illustrations are just mesmerizing. It's not a story, it's a history lesson but the subject matter is riveting. The dust storms of the "dirty thirties" are the subject but Brown gives a nice, concise background of the U.S. Plains and how the environment plays a great, sometimes devastating, role in human lives.
Some of Brown's sentences were confusing; they had a tendency to run on and use conjunctions that didn't make sense to me (this is what kept it from getting a 5 star review). However, I learned a lot and you can tell he used information gathered from oral interviews with people that lived through the "dusters" which is such a great tool. Anyways, great graphic novel for schools to own. Made me want to go on a Dust Bowl learning binge.
Some of Brown's sentences were confusing; they had a tendency to run on and use conjunctions that didn't make sense to me (this is what kept it from getting a 5 star review). However, I learned a lot and you can tell he used information gathered from oral interviews with people that lived through the "dusters" which is such a great tool. Anyways, great graphic novel for schools to own. Made me want to go on a Dust Bowl learning binge.
July 6, 2015
I'm currently reading The Writing Thief by Ruth Culham about using mentor texts to teach writing. I think this book by Don Brown would be a great mentor text not only for teaching writing, but also to incorporate into an interdisciplinary unit--it's got history, science, art, narrative ... all sorts of things to talk about! It was a pretty gloomy read, but then again, the Dust Bowl isn't exactly a cheerful topic. I did not like the tone of how the first pioneers were presented compared with the American Indians. I don't doubt that the first pioneers were a part of the problem in causing the Dust Bowl, but the tone of that page, especially compared with the tone of the rest of the text, was just jarring. But, I would use that as a starting off point to talk about the reader's job of determining author's bias and purpose, so it's a wash!
January 30, 2021
Great non-fiction graphic novel about the devastating Dust Bowl that happened in the US in the 1920s-1930s that students as young as late grade school or middle school could enjoy. The illustrations are very engaging and informative, with only one small misstep. While the book covers approximately a decade of time in detail, there is only a one-panel illustration mythicizing Native Americans and their life on the plains before the whites came and took over. While important to share, either skip it if you are going to gloss over centuries of life, or go into more detail. But all in all, a valuable book that shares an important facet of American history.
November 3, 2015
This is an engrossing graphic novel with visceral details that will stick with you – the plague of ants caused by the death of all the birds, the eye damage, people getting lost in the blizzard of dust. An airplane crashed, trains derailed. The art is sweeping where it needs to be and intimate where it can. Masterful.
At another end of the country, two girls – one of them a time traveler – explore 1937 Baltimore in Laurel Snyder’s Seven Stories Up. Put these books together for a really cool decade study.
At another end of the country, two girls – one of them a time traveler – explore 1937 Baltimore in Laurel Snyder’s Seven Stories Up. Put these books together for a really cool decade study.
September 24, 2016
Fascinating informational graphic novel, with lots of historical factoids to interest young students as well as adults. For example, the fact that the dust storms generated so much electricity in the air that cars would short out and die; or that the dust even extended out to sea, where "a fine grit covered ships' decks like powdered sugar on doughnuts" (43). I just read a novel set during the Great Depression and wanted to learn a bit more about the Dust Bowl. This neat little book did not disappoint; included is a useful selected bibliography for those seeking more information.
January 2, 2015
4.5 stars. Great presentation of facts in a graphic novel format, excellent use of color and spacing. I love how the speech bubbles are actual quotes annotated in the back matter, very well researched. I learned a lot about this time period and area. Kids in Texas will be able to relate to the drought and dust storms, they sometimes even reach Dallas! I said WOW when I got to the end and turned the page to the actual photos of the 1930s and recent storms.
January 31, 2014
Exceptional accounting of a devastating event in our country's history. The graphic format makes it accessible to readers who might not be as willing to pick up a typical informational book on the subject. The back matter includes a thorough listing of source notes and selected bibliography. This would be paired well with Phelan's Storm in the Barn and Birney's Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs.
May 15, 2014
Don Brown is amazing. A graphic novel history of the Dust Bowl, focusing on the ecological reasons for the disaster. He uses the actual words of people who wrote about their experiences, and has a comprehensive list of sources at the end.
The illustrations are sepia-toned; appropriate for the time and the topic.
The illustrations are sepia-toned; appropriate for the time and the topic.
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