Island Storm

Written by Brian Floca & illustrated by Sydney Smith

Hardcover

$18.99

$17.97

4 - 8

Reading age

Page count

620

Word count

~549L

Lexile measure

Jul 22, 2025

Publication date

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What's Island Storm About

Publisher Summary

In Caldecott Medalist Brian Floca and acclaimed illustrator Sydney Smith’s thrilling picture book, young readers will experience the sheer power of a violent thunderstorm and the calm of its aftermath. A Kirkus Prize FinalistA New York Times Best Children’s Book of the Year Can you tell when a storm is coming? Can you feel the wind coming and growing? Do you hear the branches bouncing together, hear the whispers of the wind through the leaves? Join in the journey as two siblings bear witness to the steady start, thrilling apex, and gentle end of this island storm. They’ll shelter soon, but first they want to feel it all. Sydney Smith is the winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest international distinction given to authors and illustrators of children’s books, and his illustrations are fantastically textured and visually spectacular. Paired with Brian Floca’s eloquent, rhythmic text, Island Storm is a multi-sensory experience that will amaze and delight readers. Children who fear thunder can take comfort in seeing it captured in the pages, while those who relish watching the sky crack open can enjoy battling this storm from the comfort of their homes. A Shelf Awareness Best Book of the YearA Publishers Weekly Best Book of the YearAn NPR “Books We Love” SelectionA Horn Book Fanfare Title A Quill &amp; Quire Best Book of the YearA Junior Library Guild Gold Standard SelectionOne of Evanston Public Library’s 101 Great Books for Kids

Reviews

The Creatives Behind the Book

Author

Brian Floca

Brian Floca was born and raised in Temple, Texas. He attended college at Brown University, where he double majored in art and history, cartooned for the school newspaper, and took classes down College Hill at the Rhode Island School of Design. One of his instructors at RISD was author and illustrator David Macaulay, who introduced him to author Avi. That led to a collaboration with Avi and editor Richard Jackson on the graphic novel City of Light, City of Dark. From there, he went on to illustrate additional stories by Avi and other authors, to continue studying art (including an MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York), and to write and illustrate books of his own.Brian’s books include Moonshot: The Flight of Apollo 11, Avi’s Poppy and Ereth, Patricia MacLachlan’s The True Gift, and, Ballet For Martha, a picture book by Jan Greenberg and Sandra Jordan. He’s working now on his next book as author and illustrator. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Illustrator

Sydney Smith

Sydney Smith is a nscad University graduate, born and raised in Nova Scotia. He has won the Governor General’s Award, been short-listed for the Kate Greenaway Medal and has been listed twice on the New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books list. Sydney lives in Toronto, Ontario.