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Clouds of Terror

From the Series On My Own History

  • Interest Level: Grade 2 - Grade 4
  • Reading Level: Grade 3

Helga and Erik could not believe their eyes. There were grasshoppers everywhere, and they were eating the crops! In the 1870s, when grasshoppers destroyed farms in Minnesota and other Midwestern states, many families gave up and moved away. This is the story of how two Swedish immigrant children help their parents save their home on the prairie.

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978-0-87614-639-2
 $8.99
978-0-7613-5840-4
 $28.99
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Interest Level Grade 2 - Grade 4
Reading Level Grade 3
Genre Social Studies
Category 5 Kinds of Nonfiction, 5KN: Narrative Nonfiction
Copyright 1994
Publisher Lerner Publishing Group
Brand On My Own Books
Imprint First Avenue Editions ™, Millbrook Press ™
Language English
Number of Pages 48
Publication Date 1994-01-01
Reading Counts! Level 3.9
Text Type Narrative Nonfiction
BISACS JNF007020, JNF033000, JNF051160
Dewey [E]
Graphics Full-color illustrations
Dimensions 5.875 x 8.5
Lexile 620
Guided Reading Level L
ATOS Reading Level 3.1
Accelerated Reader® Quiz 47159
Accelerated Reader® Points 0.5
Features Awards, Reviewed, and Teaching Guides

Author: Catherine A. Welch

Catherine A. Welch is an award-winning author with more than 20 books to her credit and is a writing instructor with the Institute of Children’s Literature. Elementary teachers have found her two short historical fiction books especially useful in the classroom. A teaching strategy for her book, Clouds of Terror, an NCSS/CBC Notable Children’s Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies, appeared in Instructor (October 1995). A four-day lesson plan for Danger at the Breaker, her book praised by School Library Journal and Booklist, appears at teachers.net. While many of her works are biographies and history books, her writing credits include several science books. She has degrees in biology and biochemistry, and enjoys giving writing workshops to children and teachers.

Illustrator: Laurie K. Johnson

Lerner eSource™ offers free digital teaching and learning resources, including Common Core State Standards (CCSS) teaching guides. These guides, created by classroom teachers, offer short lessons and writing exercises that give students specific instruction and practice using Common Core skills and strategies. Lerner eSource also provides additional resources including online activities, downloadable/printable graphic organizers, and additional educational materials that would also support Common Core instruction. Download, share, pin, print, and save as many of these free resources as you like!

On My Own History

With striking, full-page illustrations, real and fictionalized characters, and stories featuring events that really happened, these books capture readers’ interest and imagination. View available downloads →

Awards

  • NCSS/CBC Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People, Winner, 1994

Reviews

Kirkus Reviews

“Coping with a plague of grasshoppers on the Minnesota prairie in the 1870s, Helga and her brother are fishing when they become aware of an odd cloud approaching with a strange ‘deep hum’. . .The authentic details here carry a simple narrative that’s sure to fascinate young readers.”
— Kirkus Reviews

Parents Council

“Exciting reading for the more advanced in the easy reader group. . . A big change from the fun but meaningless stories most often available for new readers.”
—Parent Council