“Weathering the Storm Together” by Sid Korpi

Weathering the Storm Together

Sid Korpi
Healy House Books (2020)
ISBN  9798684449512
Reviewed by Lydia (age 6) for Reader Views Kids (11/20)

“Weathering the Storm Together” by Sid Korpi is the story of animals who live on a farm and animals who live in the woods and how they end up helping each other. The story begins with Olivia Owl flying around the woods and telling the other animals that there is a storm coming. Then you meet Hermie Hedgehog who is scared of the storm and thinks that his quills will be able to help him. Seymour Squirrel is trying to get all of the nuts around him into his hole in a tree before the storm starts. Seymour finds out that he has too many nuts and not enough room for himself!

The story goes to the farm and we learn about Carly Cow, Hazel Horse, Gloria Goat and her kid Gilbert Goat, and Boris Border Collie. These animals are getting ready for the storm, too, but then Gloria sees that Gilbert isn’t around. This makes Gloria very sad, so Boris Border Collie says that he will go out and look for Gilbert. This makes the animals happy! Boris runs past the farm and into the woods where he hears Gilbert and ends up finding him by Hermie Hedgehog and Tobias Turtle, sad but safe. Boris brings him back to the farm and everyone is happy again. The animals try not to be scared of the storm by thinking of good things that will happen after the storm gets over.

There were a lot of words that I didn’t know in this story, but my mom said they were mostly ones that described the weather. After having some words explained to me, I liked the story and liked how the animals worked together to keep Gilbert safe. Storms can be scary, but when you have a parent or someone you love with you, then they aren’t that scary anymore. I like that the animals’ names all start with the same letter as the animal that they are. I liked all of the animals except for Seymour Squirrel because he was being selfish with his acorns. I liked the book and think that other kids will too.

A Note from Mom:

When you think of the story in the context of COVID-19, it has strong parallels to what we humans are and have been going through. I think it was a little harder for Lydia to make that connection, but for adults reading this to their kids, it’s pretty clear. For the sake of reading the book out loud, I also liked that the animals’ names begin with the same sound; it makes it easier to remember which name belongs to which animal. This is a great book for younger kids (with some explanation needed if you want them to fully get the detailed picture of the scene) and older kids alike.