88 Books Like When The Sky Roars

Some books are pretty straightforward: this is one of them. I like it because it covers a lot of ground and includes lots of diverse kids. Sometimes you want a sweet story, and sometimes you want something more practical. I love that this book gives concrete examples about being brave, strong, and resilient. My son has autism, and when he was small he preferred concept books to stories. This would have been perfect for him—as he took things very literally. It’s a best-seller and comes in a Spanish version.

I feel like I lived this story as a kid. I’ll bet a lot of kids do. A young boy overcomes his fear of the high dive. 

Step by step, Gaia Cornwall takes us through Jabari’s jump. Jabari starts by telling his dad he’s not scared at all. He clearly is. He delays, makes excuses. Dad never pushes. He wants this to be Jabari’s decision, Jabari’s victory. It’s so relatable, the perspective even changes to first person once Jabari is high above the pool. 

Everything rings true. It’s exactly what a scared kid would say and do. It’s exactly what I said and did when I was Jabari’s age trying to summon my own courage on the high dive. Except when I hit the water, my swim trunks fell off.

All kids deal with fears and all parents and caregivers want to shield them from them. But I learned as a mom that I couldn’t shield my kids from hurts. But I could help them develop their own shield—by teaching them how to confront their fears and equipping them with the tools they needed to deal with the inevitable stressors they would encounter in life. My older son, practical and scientific, would have loved this book! In this uplifting, rhyming story, Christina Furnival, a licensed mental health therapist and mom, presents a practical three-step lesson to help kids manage their worries, regain their cool, and strip fear of its power once and for all. I sure wish I had this book 30 years ago!

I love this book because although it was written before the pandemic, it hits home about being stuck inside—in this case, by choice! The first line is, “Logan was a stay-at-home bunny.” I’m a sucker for bunnies and the friends in this book—Logan and Luna—actually display personalities similar to that of my sons! One of my sons is daring and brave; the other, shy and unadventurous. This story shows that we may think that we are not brave at all, but when we dig deep down, we can all find our brave. Sometimes just a little bit of bravery is enough. The good news is we are all braver than we think!

Hound Won’t Go reminds us that dogs, like people, have unique minds of their own. (And despite all the training in the world, that we aren’t ever totally in control of our lovable four-legged friends.) The rhyming sparse text is fun for reluctant and new readers to read and listen to – again and again.

This engaging book presents three young children being brave in three scary situations—a thunderstorm, the first day of school, and getting a shot at the doctor’s office. Using very simple rhyming text, Karla Clark captures the fear of these events and shows the children overcoming that fear. This is a great book for parents to use with preschoolers in discussing ways to deal with being frightened. Jeff Őstberg’s artwork effectively portrays the children’s fear, as well as their pride in overcoming it. The cover art is especially striking.

I love wordplay, and Douglas Florian is a master. His poems are short, fun, and well-crafted. He also illustrates his books, in a style that is sketchy, childlike, and textural. When I need a bit of lighthearted inspiration for my own poetry, Florian always delivers. He has written dozens of books, but his book about summer called Summersaults captures the essence of his style. Here’s a delicious sample:

"A Summery"

June: We seeded.
July: We weeded.
August: We eated.

If you like small town settings with big old houses and hints of a ghost, intrigue, and simmering romance, you’ll love Storms of the Heart.

The story’s female main character, Emerson Lane, finds herself right in the middle of a raging thunderstorm at night on her way to her Uncle Wayne’s house in Twin Creeks, where she lived when her parents died in a car crash. She’s on a mission to reconnect with her uncle after leaving abruptly years ago to live in New York City. Trouble is waiting for her in the name of Sheriff Max Lomax, who she left behind.

Max has his own problems, but he is secretly but begrudgingly thrilled to see her, but questions whether this time she’ll stay. I liked the interesting characters in this story and the pleasant descriptions of Emerson’s hometown. The writing was so nice it felt like I could just… show more.

Personal reveal – I love weather. I am in my happy place with a good thunderstorm overhead, shaking my house, lighting up my backyard in the dead of night. And so, I was drawn to read Braving the Storm.

The entire eastern seaboard of the United States is struck by Superstorm Nicole. The power grids fail, millions of residences and businesses are unprotected, in the dark. Anarchy erupts as gangs rule the streets forcing residents to make a choice; leave their homes or stay and fight. Four families flee the city, and join together, to live in a cabin in the middle of the forest and try to wait it out, survive.

This is a scenario not beyond the realm of possibility. Braving the Storm can also be read as a survival guide.

This is a well-written story about a dog named Cormac, a Golden Retriever, who went missing from his home due to fireworks and the extensive search his guardian made in his attempts to recover his best friend. The owner following leads that came in and how he recovered his dog are an amazing read.