I had the immense pleasure of hearing Brian Floca and Sidney Smith discuss this new collaboration at a small gathering at Sullaluna in New York City recently. Of course, I purchased a copy to share this Perfect Picture Book with you!
Title: Island Storm
Written By: Brian Floca
Illustrated By: Sydney Smith
Publisher/Date: Neal Porter Books/2025
Suitable for Ages: 4-8, and older
Themes/Topics: storm, resilience, overcoming danger, siblings, island, rainstorm
Opening:
Now take my hand and we’ll go see the sea before the storm.
Brief Synopsis: Siblings journey to view the shore as a storm is brewing on island.
Links to Resources:
· Check out the Educators Guide;
· Take a walk before a rainstorm in your neighborhood, along the shore, in a park, or wherever you can. How can you tell a storm is coming? What do you see? Hear? Smell? How do you feel?
· After the storm has passed, walk in your neighborhood, along the beach, or in a park. Does everything look the same as it did before the storm? Do you see, smell, or hear anything different?
Why I Like this Book:
With rhythmic text and evocative illustrations, Floca and Smith take readers on a cross-island journey to a rocky shore before a storm arrives. With the children, readers can “feel the wind blowing, we feel the wind growing.” When we arrive at the shore, we can “feel” the wind and the waves and the water, too.
Once at the shore, the children don’t linger. But they don’t return home, as most readers may hope. Instead, they ask, “is this enough, or do we try for more?” The answer? “You pull on me, I pull on you, and we decide to go on.”
From there, readers see through the eyes of the children the storm preparations island residents have made and local landmarks that appear different with so few people out and about.
As skies darken, tension rises. Readers, at least this one, want the children’s journey to end. Then, boom! A clap of thunder forces the children to scurry back home. There, they listen as the storm rages outside while inside dry clothes, dinner, and “warm beds and blankets” shelter them.
With the kids safe at home, Floca could have ended this journey. But not only do the children survive the storm, the island does, too. As the kids enjoy another visit to the rocky shore, readers experience the calm after the storm, knowing that the children, the island, and readers will “go on.”
While it is clear that the children take chances and tempt fate, Island Storm provides an opportunity for adults and children to discuss risk taking and how to prepare for and survive storms, from the safety of a favorite reading spot.
Smith’s impressionistic, motion-filled art is fairly dark due to the gathering clouds and rain, but he includes pops of color on each spread. There also are many spreads with white space, which lightens things up.
Whether read at home or in a classroom, Island Storm is a beautiful book to read and reread.
A Note about Craft:
At 48 pages, not only is Island Storm longer than the typical 32-page picture book, the story begins before the first spread. On the title page, readers meet the brother and sister protagonists as they gaze out the window, awaiting the coming storm. A wordless spread follows, showing readers what, presumably, the children see: clouds gathering as an adult grabs laundry that’s blown off the line. From there, we begin the story and meet the narrator as older brother invites younger sister to “take my hand.” With these clues of the story to come, all readers will want to join the journey!
This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!
Wander, Ponder, Write 