When Cloud Became a Cloud

November 15, 2020
A cloud experiences the ups and downs of the water cycle. In a minimalist narrative attached to bright, very simple cartoon scenes in which everything from our nearest star to the tiniest water droplets sports a smiley face, Hodgson personifies but otherwise accurately represents natural processes. Sun ("I'm hot stuff!") warms a lake so that evaporated drops rise and gather into Cloud, which, driven by a friend named Wind that "loves to blow warm air to cold places," passes over mountains and under airplanes. When droplets cool off enough, they link up into geometrical flakes ("This is snow much fun!"), pack in until they fall as raindrops, or rub together to build up an electrical charge: "BOOM." Clouds can gather from all over, then split up again ("Adi�s!" "Sayonara!" "Jal gayo!") after a storm while Sun shows off "a neat trick": "RAINBOW!" The fleecy, blue-eyed wanderer returns at last to the lake...just in time for a meet-cute with a newly formed, pink-eyed compatriot. "Hi! I'm Cloud. What's your name?" Younger cloud watchers drawn by the artless tone and the (literally) vivacious illustrations, which resemble tissue-paper collage enhanced with occasional brushwork, will be well set up to dive into deeper treatments of the topic, such as Antonia Banyard and Paula Ayer's Water Wow! illustrated by Belle Wuthrich (2016). The small human figures visible in some scenes appear diverse. (This book was reviewed digitally with 9-by-14.6-inch double-page spreads viewed at 90% of actual size.) A breezy, buoyant bucketful of atmospheric basics. (Informational picture book. 4-7)

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December 1, 2020
Preschool-Grade 1 In what might be the most adorable depiction of the water cycle ever, this endearing picture book follows Cloud's journey from water droplets to sky fluff. The cheery illustrations anthropomorphize the story's major players, pasting smiling faces onto a lake, the sun, water droplets, the wind, and clouds. Each stage of the water cycle is presented in its own chapter, beginning with the formation of Cloud the cloud, the happy by-product of Sun heating up the water of a lake. Chapter 2 sees the arrival of Wind, who "loves to blow warm air to cold places" and sends Cloud scooting through the sky. Successive chapters tackle weather events, including snow, fog, rain, a thunderstorm, and a rainbow, until Cloud arrives back at the lake where the story began. Hodgson utilizes graphic novel conventions throughout the book, using panels and speech balloons to show Cloud's exciting journey. This book is aimed at very young learners, as it successfully conveys basic concepts without using scientific language--and not only that, it makes its lessons fun!

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Starred review from January 1, 2021

PreS-Gr 2-A delightful illustrated depiction of the water cycle. Hodgson begins with a sun-"Hot stuff"-over a lake, and Cloud is created through the droplets that float from the lake to the sky. Cloud goes through a metamorphosis in every chapter, incorporating breezy lessons on fog, rainbows, storm systems, snow, and rain. For example, Wind befriends Cloud and blows him around the sky. Sun and Wind work together to blow Cloud through cities, mountains, and countryside. Cloud is blown into a very cold place that allows some of its water droplets to freeze and become snowflakes that fall from the sky to the ground. Wind continues to blow Cloud into cold regions. Cloud becomes fascinated with the water droplets down in the snow and floats down to see them. Cloud goes so low that it generates fog. Cloud makes friends with other clouds, and is awestruck when Sun shines light through droplets after a storm to create a rainbow. The book is divided into easy chapters that invite closer inspection of smiling raindrops and other friendly elements. The science is serious, the explanations cheerful, and children will come away with a fairly extensive understanding of how clouds become clouds. VERDICT A simplified but terrific tale, perfect for beginning readers or anyone seeking an exciting and funny science story.-Annmarie Braithwaite, New York P.L.

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