ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
SCIENCE
Perron, Lisa Varchol

Wonder Why

32 pp. | HarperCollins/Harper | April, 2025 | Trade ISBN 9780063310421 $19.99
(2) K-3 Illustrated by Nik Henderson. Perron's accessible STEM-friendly text about meteorological phenomena grounds itself in that quintessential question of childhood: "Why?" On alternating spreads, rhymed verses in a singsong cadence pose questions to the sky, wind, clouds, thunder, rain, and a rainbow. These queries all appear on pages that depict children, and each question includes the line, "How I wonder, wonder why," implying a child's voice. In response to the questions, each weather phenomenon replies with a scientific explanation (the wind: "Pressure! That's what makes me blow. / Cool air moves from high to low"). These answers are reinforced with succinct statements in the back matter about each meteorological event. Henderson's illustrations recall Jon Klassen's style and make good use of perspective and scale to evoke the smallness of the child speakers in relation to the vast sky and the world we inhabit. Effective, too, are his use of color and shadow and his energetic line work to depict the dynamism and power of weather events. A great choice for readers wondering about weather. Appended with a selected bibliography.
Reviewer: Megan Dowd Lambert | Horn Book Magazine Issue: July, 2025

RELATED 

SCIENCE

How to Build an Insect
by Gibson, Roberta
SCIENCE

A Quick History of Math
by Gifford, Clive
SCIENCE

Butterflies Are Pretty...Gross!
by Mosco, Rosemary
SCIENCE

Summertime Sleepers
by Stewart, Melissa
SCIENCE

Birds
by Krestovnikoff, Miranda
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?