Sally Morgan (text) Beth Norling (illus.) Cyclone Fever, Omnibus/Scholastic Australia, June 2015, 55 pp., $12.99 (pbk), ISBN 9781742991030
Cyclone Fever features an indigenous family living in Northern Australia during a cyclone alert. Cyclone Thelma is on the way. But why is Gran panicking? After all it’s only going to be a Category One cyclone… isn’t it?
Gran’s intuitive connection to nature, her lovely relationship with grandson Danny and her kind community spirit make her the star of this story.
Sally Morgan is one of Australia’s best known Aboriginal artists and writers. Her text is set out in six clear chapters with selected words highlighted in a larger grey font. This helps the young readers to build vocabulary and adds an extra layer to the reading experience.
The very talented Beth Norling’s colourful cartoon-style illustrations are on every page. They work beautifully with the text to make this a fun read.
Cyclone Fever is a chapter book aimed at emerging readers who are making the exciting transition from picture books to novels.
Cyclone Fever is part of the Great Australian Yarns- Mates series. This is a collection of unique Australian stories written by some of our leading children’s authors.
I recommend Cyclone Fever for kids aged between 7-10 years.
Reviewed by Wendy Fitzgerald
