Heat Wave

by Eileen Spinelli, Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)

The mercury is climbing in Lumberville, and the folks are doing everything they can to keep cool. Officer McGinnis spends the day in a cold bath, Lottie Mims does her housework in her bathing suit, and Abigail and Ralphie Blue sell ice cubes. When the temperature refuses to relent, the entire community seeks solace by the river--where everyone dreams of cool relief.

A cast of quirky characters and lots of playful details from two celebrated picture-book talents make this heat wave look like fun!

Genres: Picture Books, Summer, Childrens, Storytime, Kids, Historical Fiction, Poetry

32 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2007

About the author

Eileen Spinelli is an award-winning children's book author from southeastern Pennsylvania. She has written over 100 picture books and novels for children. Her husband is Jerry Spinelli, who also writes books for children.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

The heat is on, and the residents of Lumberville are doing all they can to stay cool - from squirting each other with hoses to sleeping outdoors. There's really no story here - just a day by day account of people trying to beat the heat.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like Lewin's art, and since our weather has turned stupid hot, I can't bring myself to read anything heavy. Perfect.

Library copy

[Paulette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extremely relatable and relevant, because even though we live with the glorious invention of a/c, we also live with a rapidly growing and hotter climate. Anyway, the usage of color was great!

[Shellee · Rating 3 out of 5]

All about a town handling a heat wave, before air conditioning. Great use of descriptive language. Goes through the week and highlights different people in town and how they deal with the heat, cold showers, selling icy lemonade, cooking in the basement, and so on.

[Maggie Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

After reading the book Heat Wave, it opened my eyes to the sight words within the book. Each page always has bolded words in red/orange color. The art illustrations set the mood for the book because it talks about the heat and sun. The colors that go with this are yellow, red, and orange. This book will introduce newspapers with images of the temperature on a thermometer. We could incorporate this book to learn about temperature and how to measure it. We can relate our own experiences of how heat cancels events outside because the heat makes people pass out due to dehydration. This book shares ways of how you can keep yourself cool on hot summer days. As an activity, I would like to have the students go out of a hot sunny day and they will measure the temperature of objects outside.

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's not an incredibly engaging tale, nothing much happens except that the heat rises each day, but it's somehow fun. Over the course of a week, you get a glimpse of what the towns people do to try and get cool.

Ages: 5 - 8

Cleanliness: two people are shown bathing - no details.

#summer

**Like my reviews? I also have hundreds of detailed reports that I offer too. These reports give a complete break-down of everything in the book, so you'll know just how clean it is or isn't. I also have Clean Guides (downloadable PDFs) which enable you to clean up your book before reading it! Visit my website: The Book Radar.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

The great illustrations by Betsy Lewin really bring this book alive. The artwork makes the story sizzle, you can literally feel the heat rising, and the sweat covering each body. Unfortunately, the story is not quite up to that level. While a fine story, it needed a humorous element or a surprise ending. Without it the book rates a 3 and it feels relevant only for reading during those hot days of summer.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my life right now. It's pushing 110 degrees Fahrenheit and I don't have air conditioning at my house, either. Dragging my mattress onto the patio? Sounds like a great idea! And I'd buy a cup of ice in a heartbeat! I thought the book was wonderful until the ending when it just...stopped. Didn't care for that at all, as it felt quite anticlimactic. Still, it's a good summer read.

[Colleen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read the ebook version & would guess this title works better in a traditional, picture book format.

[Suzanne Lorraine Kunz Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love seeing the different solutions that everyone comes to with for the same problems. Great book to read to illustrate that there's more than one solution for most problems.

[Liz Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reminds me of growing up in the 80s and 90s with no AC. I still don’t love summer weather!

[Marisa Jordan · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

Cute, but

[Karina · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the town of Lumberville gets a heatwave, all the locals do everything they can to keep cool. Some sell ice cubes, some take a cold bath all day, and some do their housework in their bathing suits! Readers will love reading this fun book story about the heatwave week. The illustrations are colorful and the various size and spacing of text are entertaining for readers. This book is appropriate for second to third grade. This book can be used to help teach students about story sequencing since every new page is a new day. Students can write down what each character did to stay cool each day.

[Wynn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Got the song Summer In The City by the The Lovin' Spoonful in my head. Ugh!

[Carolyn]

What a sizzling combo! Eileen Spinelli and Betsy Lewin have teamed up to create the perfect bedtime story for a stifling hot summer day. Set in an era before air conditioning was commonplace, everyone in Lumberville is seeking relief from the oppressive heat:

Butchy Bezwick and Charley Pappas squirted each other with garden hoses and lay on the cool linoleum listening to the radio.

“Take me to the drugstore for an ice-cream soda, please,” Abigail Blue begged her father. “Please!”

Whether you and your child are experiencing hot, humid summertime weather or just wishing for one more blast, Heat Wave is a delightful summer-theme picture book that will evoke long-past lazy summer days and much simpler times. Ms. Spinelli’s prose and Ms. Lewin’s illustrations are a perfect match, evoking a strong sense of community and family.

Good fun for youngsters aged four and up, the is a picture book that adults will thoroughly enjoy sharing with children.

Note – Heat Wave begins on a Sunday and ends on a Saturday. If desired, extension activities could include learning about the days of the week.

Included on our list of Summer, Camping and Beach Theme Picture Books
http://goo.gl/jnOlTP

[Michalyn Easter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heat Wave is definitely a good story to relate with kids when summer time starts to rear its ugly head! This book goes through the week of a heat wave happening in an old town. The story is smooth flowing with isolated dialogue between characters. There are only a handful of characters mentioned, so it should be easy for students to refer back to them by name when retelling. These characters go on a journey through the city and their actions are explained. Their actions are influenced by the heat, so some things may cause humor in the classroom.
This book appears to be something to use in the classroom with younger children for a few reasons. The story goes through the days of the week. This is a good time to review the days of the week. The book also has word variation (hot, hotter), and this can be practiced in the classroom as well.
The book is short enough for a read aloud, and it is also interesting enough to hold the attention of students.

[Lisa Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun story about a town that is overcome by a heat wave in the days before AC. As the days drag on, bit by bit, and piece by piece, the people succumb to the terrible heat, until they finally lose all energy to do anything. In the end though, the rain comes and they are free from the heat. The illustrations are beautiful watercolors, and I love how they helped you feel the "heat" the people were experiencing. Derek just pulled this one off the shelf because of the cover, and we all really enjoyed it.

[Kelli Bratten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heat Wave would be used in a weather unit to expand on what they already know. W would discuss using a thermometer to see what the temperature is and whether that means if it will cold or hot. I would also like to do a painting project with them where they use colors that they think represent cold or hot and point out how the illustrator used certain colors to show the temperature. They could also learn about days before AC! IN writing they could learn what a list is, if they haven't already and write a list for ways to stay cool when it's hot!

[Josiah · Rating 1 out of 5]

From the very beginning, the artwork of Betsy Lewin does a good job setting the stage for this story of a massive heat wave that engulfs the town of Lumberville, and the ways that the town's citizens cope with the stultifying temperatures. The description of the final night of increasing heat, when the people get the idea to go outside and sleep under the twinkling stars, is an especially nice part of the book. I would give one and a half stars to Heat Wave.

[Caitlin W. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heat Wave is an imaginative but realistic picture book about the weather. In the days before air conditioning, a huge heat wave hits the city, and it gets hotter and hotter every day of the week. The art is reminiscent of some of the older newspaper comics, and it has a certain nostalgia to it. It gives children an idea of how people used to deal with the heat before the conveniences of modern technology, and practice with the days of the week. Recommended for grades K-2.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this story out from the library as much for the author and illustrator than anything. The book is short, with fun watercolor illustrtations and it's all about a week-long heat wave in the town of Lumberville and how the people in town dealt with it. Interesting tale and fun to read aloud.

[Rosie Harris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Heat Wave is a pretty cute book about the things people do to cool down. The illustrations are very cute watercolors. This could be used in a weather unit, or if you are teaching somewhere during a heat wave to give kids ideas of ways to avoid the heat. It is probably appropraite for 1st and 2nd graders.

[Christy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The mercury is climbing in Lumberville, and the folks are doing everything they can to keep cool. Officer McGinnis spends the day in a cold bath, Lottie Mims does her housework in her bathing suit, and Abigail and Ralphie Bluesell ice cubes. When the temperature refuses to relent, the entire community seeks solace by the river--where everyone dreams of cool relief.A cast

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this aloud to a fifth and second grader. Seattle is not generally a city with an abundance of air conditioners or heat in the summer. Given the 2015 Seattle summer, my two readers and I found lots of ways to connect to Lumberville, even though the story takes place back in a time before air con.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

Modern kids in many areas will be saying "but where's the air conditioning"? Which is your chance to tell them, as I have often told my girls, what it was like in the summer years ago...

But no air conditioning in the movie theater? This book doesn't make it look as if it's THAT long ago!

[Edna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follow families who live in the city and who are plagued by a heat wave for a whole week and how they find relief. The use of splashy watercolors perfectly illustrate the different temperature levels.

[Shawna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Texas children can certainly appreciate the feeling this book brings forth, since they will generally experience a heat wave each summer. A good book to add to weather units, as well as to share with students in art.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a simple book that would be great to read when summer is coming in full swing. A town is suffering a week long heat wave, and everyone is trying to find a way to cool off. This book has a great use of descriptive words as well, which could be used to teach students descriptive words.

[Youth Services · Rating 4 out of 5]

great pictures but definitely for older readers, too long for under 7 to sit through JD

[Kirsten Murphy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone in Texas (or any other warm-weather climate!) can relate to this book!