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Hoping
for
a
Hurricane
by Phillis
Gershator
Little Bell Caribbean
(Editorial Campana), 2011
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| From
the book jacket: |
Oh,
boy! Hurricane coming!
Just what Horace was hoping for.
But he isn't prepared for how
scary a real hurricane can be.
His mother tells him funny
stories while the storm rages.
But once the storm and the
stories are over, there's a
blown apart house to rebuild, a
pesky sister to comfort, and
what about the missing
hummingbirds? Sometimes it takes
a disaster to find out what's
important––and what to hope for.
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| A
little about the book: |
Once when I told
a cousin how scary a hurricane
really is, she said, "But
truthfully, it's exciting, too,
isn't it?"
I hadn't thought
of it that way, not when roofs blow
away, things get wet and moldy,
there's no running water or
electricity, and there are long
lines for everything, from food to
gas. Plus, it's hard work to
rebuild. But yes, I could well
imagine a child hoping for something
big to happen, especially a natural
disaster. And that's just what third
grader Horace does––he hopes for a
hurricane.
Horace is a
little like me. He hates dodge ball.
And he's a little like some other
children I know, too. He likes to
daydream. He likes to hear stories.
He likes to draw pictures and run
races. And he likes to track an
upcoming storm on a hurricane map.
*******
Hoping for
a Hurricane is being
published for distribution in
the Virgin Islands' summer
reading program for ages 7 to 9.
So here are some summertime
activities to go along with the
book:
THINGS
TO THINK ABOUT
1) Horace would rather play any
game but dodge ball. What is
your favorite sport? Why? What
is your least favorite?
2) The stories about Anansi,
Brer Rabbit, and Coyote are
called trickster tales.
Tricksters aren’t always very
nice characters. They can be
greedy and mean. Sometimes they
even lie and steal. So what
makes these stories so popular?
Are tricksters heros?
3) Another kind of story is
called a pourquoi
tale. (Pourquoi
is French for “Why?”) Why does
an elephant have a trunk? Why do
mosquitoes buzz in people’s
ears? Why is there a rabbit on
the moon? Pourquoi
tales answer these questions,
though not scientifically. Do
you know what really made that
rabbit shadow on the moon?
4) In the story about the
tortoise and the mongoose, the
mongoose kills a snake.
Mongooses were originally
brought to the island to get rid
of rats, but they killed snakes
instead. Now there are hardly
any snakes left. Renata
Platenberg, ecologist and
biologist at the Division of
Fish and Wildlife in the V.I.,
says: “The mongoose was
introduced, but the snake has
been around here for around 28
million years or so. What a
shame if something that's
survived every hurricane,
earthquake, tectonic shift for
millions of years totally
disappears 100 years after the
introduction of a non-beneficial
mammalian predator.” What might
you do if you found a boa in the
bush? (Hint: call the office of
Fish and Wildlife.)
5) How does Horace’s family cope
with the hurricane? Who keeps
calm? Who is frightened? Who is
kind? Who gets cranky, sad,
impatient? Who becomes more
generous? Who is thankful to be
alive?
6) Loss and destruction follow a
hurricane, but when the
hummingbirds return and Carnival
is around the corner, what do
these happy events tell us?
7) How can we help to prevent
hurricane damage? Why are
wetlands important? And building
codes? And weather forecasts?
THINGS
TO DO
1) Draw before
and after pictures
about an event in your life.
2) Pick a spot on a map. Find
its longitude and latitude.
3) Read a trickster story
starring Anansi, Brer Rabbit, or
Coyote.
4) Write your own trickster
story!
5) Make a list of essential
supplies and prepare an
emergency disaster kit.
6) Stretch, jump, jog. Get ready
for your favorite sport!
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