THE WEATHER CHANNEL® PRESENTS Floods!

[Editor's note: The following is a combined review with THE WEATHER CHANNEL PRESENTS: LIGHTNING! AND THUNDERSTORMS.] -- Though we often think of the weather as a mundane subject for small talk, meteorology is, in fact, a difficult subject to explain. This series of recordings by The Weather Channel is designed for kids 8 and up, and it does a fine job of introducing the physics and other forces behind some of nature's most powerful phenomena. Actor Richard M. Davidson reads with assuredness and doesn't rush his narration, giving the listener time to absorb the information. In addition, the recordings make effective use of first-person stories from kids who have lived through floods, been struck by lightning, and the like. The format is less successful toward the end, when each tape includes a glossary and a list of Web sites, complete with a flurry of www's and dot-coms. Neither works well in the audio medium. D.B. © AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine [Published: DEC/JAN 01]