Life can change in an instant. Reading books about disasters can help kids cope with anxiety and sudden change, prepare for potential emergencies, and build resilience. Our May book list features Canadian books about all kinds of disasters from fantasy and science fiction to real historical events.
Picture Books
Chidori: A Story of One Thousand Birds
Written by Jennifer Maruno
Illustrated by Mike Sato
Pajama Press, 2025
IL: Ages 5-8 RL: Grades 2-3
Hana’s school sits on the side of a hill with a view of the ocean. One day, while in class, a tsunami drags the ocean across her village. Hana watches in horror as the dark water crashes into trees and tosses cars and boats around. When she is finally reunited with her family, she learns that the wave has taken more than she could have ever imagined. To cope with her grief, Hana begins to paint chidori (a thousand birds).
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The Day Dancer Flew
Written by Tiffany Stone
Illustrated by Brittany Lane
Orca Book Publishers, 2024
IL: Ages 3-5 RL: Grades 1-2
Dancer is a gentle and loving horse. He got his name because of how he moves his hooves—happily, like he's dancing. Every day when the girl rides on his back, it feels like she is flying—until the rain descends and won't let up. Everything floods and the girl and her family flee...leaving Dancer behind. But while sheltering at the community centre, the girl can't stop worrying about Dancer. She knows there must be a way to save him, too. With the help of an agriculture officer, a horse expert and a helicopter pilot, a plan comes together to save the stranded horse.
Inspired by real events during the flooding near Spences Bridge, British Columbia, in 2021, this gorgeously illustrated book tells the tale of a girl's love for her horse and the power of a community coming together to help humans (and animals) during a natural disaster.
A Roof!
Written by Stephanie Ellen Sy
Illustrated by Daniel Tingcungco
Penguin Young Readers Group, 2024
IL: Ages 3-7 RL: Grades 1-2
Typhoons are a regular part of Maya’s life in the Philippines, but after this storm, she finds something unusual in her backyard—a roof! There’s an address written on it, and Maya is determined to return it to its family. She’ll need help to make her way through the damage left behind by the typhoon. As she sets out with her tatay, Maya collaborates with a farmer and his carabao, a couple of fishers and their boat, a sapatero, a labandera, a kusinera, and more of her neighbours. Together, they sail around knotted tree roots, hauling, heaving, pushing, and dragging the roof until they find its family—and begin to rebuild their community.
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What to Bring
Written by Lorna Shultz Nicholson
Illustrated by Ellen Rooney
Owkids Books, 2023
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades 2-3
Malia and her family are spending a day outside when they notice something strange. Huge white-and-grey clouds fill the sky, planes zoom overhead, and the air smells funny. A forest fire is sweeping the area, and they need to evacuate their home.
This heartfelt and powerful story explores a rare perspective: experiencing a natural disaster through the eyes of a child. Malia’s authentic voice will resonate with readers, and the book’s challenging subject matter is balanced with gentle lessons in communication, problem-solving, and family.
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When the Ocean Came to Town
Written by Sal Sawler
Illustrated by Emma Fitzgerald
Nimbus Publishing, 2023
IL: Ages 4-7 RL: Grades 1-2
Gretchen loves the ocean. She dreams of going to the beach on her own, with no one to make her leave before she's ready. But between whispers of oil, plastic, and a rising sea, her parents warn her not to underestimate the strength of the water. A great storm is coming and everyone, big and small, must prepare to meet it when it does.
With a strong message of community-building and climate activism, this charming debut children's picture book will inspire young readers to rebuild better, together.
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For Middle Readers
The Haunted Blizzard
Written by Aviaq Johnston
Illustrated by Athena Gubbe
Inhabit Media, 2025
IL: Ages 10-14 RL: Grades 6-12
A teenage girl walks home in a burgeoning blizzard, happy to have an unexpected snow day. Ignoring an Elder’s warning about the terror the blizzard holds, she finds herself alone in her home with an unseen presence stalking and tormenting her. What does it want? And will she survive?
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Missing Mike
Written by Shari Green
Pajama Press, 2024
IL: Ages 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
Mike is 11-year-old Cara Donovan's dog, and they love each other absolutely. Usually her pet follows Cara everywhere, but on the day the family first smells smoke in the air, Mike becomes anxious. Pine Grove is in the path of a wildfire, and the family is ordered to evacuate. In the ensuing chaos, Mike panics and runs off. And then the unthinkable happens; there is no time to search for Mike. They are forced to leave him behind.
Shocked and devastated, Cara watches helplessly as the family drives through a nightmare, with burning debris falling from the sky and wild animals fleeing for their lives. Once in the city far from the burn zone, the Donovans are housed with a volunteer host family. Jewel, the hosts' daughter, is nice, but Cara can only think about what she may have lost. What will happen if nothing is left? But as she reflects on what "home" means to her, Cara knows only one thing. She is not going to lose Mike. She will do what it takes to find him, even if it means going back to Pine Grove on her own.
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The Probability of Everything
Written by Sarah Everett
Clarion Books, 2023
IL: Ages 8-12 RL: Grades 3-4
Eleven-year-old Kemi Carter loves scientific facts, specifically probability. It's how she understands the world and her place in it. Kemi knows her odds of being born were 1 in 5.5 trillion and that the odds of her having the best family ever were even lower. Yet somehow, Kemi lucked out.
But everything Kemi thought she knew changes when she sees an asteroid hover in the sky, casting a purple haze over her world. Amplus-68 has an 84.7% chance of colliding with earth in four days, and with that collision, Kemi’s life as she knows it will end.
But over the course of the four days, even facts don’t feel true to Kemi anymore. The new town she moved to that was supposed to be “better for her family” isn’t very welcoming. And Amplus-68 is taking over her life, but others are still going to school and eating at their favourite diner like nothing has changed. Is Kemi the only one who feels like the world is ending?
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A Terrible Tide
Written by Suzanne Meade
Second Story Press, 2021
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
November 18th, 1929. In her small village in Newfoundland, Celia is setting the table for her 13th birthday celebration when the house starts to shake. It's an earthquake, rumbling under the Atlantic Ocean. A few hours later, the sea water disappears from the harbor, only to rush back in a wave almost 30 feet high, destroying nearly everything in its path. Buildings, boats, and winter supplies of fish and food are washed away, and Celia and her community are devastated. With their only phone line cut off and no safe route to get help, they are isolated and facing a long, cold, hungry winter.
Based on the true story of an earthquake that shook Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula, A Terrible Tide tells the tale of this forgotten disaster from the point of view of a young girl whose life is turned upside down.
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Water, Water
Written by Cary Fagan
Illustrated by Jon McNaught
Tundra Books, 2022
IL: Ages 10 and up RL: Grades 5-6
One morning Rafe wakes up to discover his bedroom is floating in a vast sea of water. Alone with only his dog for company, Rafe adapts to this strange new world by fishing cans of food out of the water and keeping watch. Boxes float by, as does a woman, playing her cello. Then, one day, Rafe fishes out a young girl, who joins him in his room—they don't speak the same language, but they will face this uncertain future together.
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For Teen Readers
Aftershock
(Orca Anchor)
Written by Gabrielle Prendergast
Orca Book Publishers, 2023
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 2-3
Amy is happy it’s the last day of school… until a huge earthquake hits. She’s surprised that it’s Mara, her half-sister, who finally comes for her, since they hardly know each other. There’s no word from any of their parents, and their homes have been destroyed. So Amy and Mara set out on a perilous journey from their suburb into the city to search for their parents. As they walk day and night, the scope of the horrific destruction becomes clear. Have their parents survived the disaster?
This short novel is a high-interest, low-reading level book for teen readers who are building reading skills, want a quick read or say they don’t like to read!
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Catfish Rolling
Written by Clara Kumagai
Tundra Books, 2023
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
There's a catfish under Japan, and when it rolls, the land rises and falls. At least, that's what Sora was told after she lost her mother to an earthquake so powerful that it cracked time itself. Sora and her father are some of the few who still live near the most powerful of these "zones"—the places where time has been irrevocably sped up, or slowed down.
When high school ends, and her best friend leaves for university, Sora finds herself stuck and increasingly alone. She begins secretly conducting her own research, tracking down a time expert in Tokyo. She also feels increasingly conflicted in her quasi-romantic feelings for her best friend—and for the time expert's assistant, a striking and confident girl named Maya, another hafu (half-Japanese, half-non) girl with whom Sora forms an instant bond.
But when Sora's father disappears, she has no choice but to return home and venture deep into the abandoned time zones to find him, and perhaps the catfish itself . . .
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Like a Bird
Written by Becky Citra
Second Story Press, 2025
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 8-9
A year ago, Rachel Bird hated it in small-town Aspen Lake. She and her little sister, Jane, had just moved in with grandparents they never knew they had. But this summer looks very different. Rachel has a best friend, a boyfriend, and she gets to ride her horse, Magic. They are all sweltering under a heat dome, and though Rachel’s heard about the dangerous wildfires, they seem very far away.
Then the grass turns yellow and Rachel smells smoke all the time. Just when she was finally letting herself settle in, her new home is in jeopardy. If the fires reach Aspen Lake, will Rachel and her family be able to make it out in time? And what will happen to everything they leave behind?
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Wildfire
Written by Carrie Mac
Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2020
IL: Ages 14 and up RL: Grades 9-10
Annie and Pete have been best friends since they were little. They know each other better than anyone, and they've been on more adventures than they can count—they even have a notebook filled with all the times they've almost died. But they always survive, because together, they're invincible.
And they've always been just friends. But lately, Annie has been thinking that maybe friendship is just the beginning, and she's been mentally replaying all the times they were almost something more.
Now they're heading out on their next great quest: a 10-day backpacking trip through the mountains of Washington State, ending at Fire Camp, where they'll learn to fight the area's growing wildfire problem. The woods spark with the promise of adventure, but a freak climbing accident interrupts their progress, and as the wildfires close in and smoke envelops them, Annie and Pete wander farther from the trail…
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Non-Fiction
The Halifax Explosion: 6 December 1917 at 9:05 in the Morning
Written by Afua Cooper
Illustrated by Rebecca Bender
Plumleaf Press, 2023
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
The Halifax Explosion is a poem written by Halifax’s seventh poet laureate, Dr. Afua Cooper. It reveals dramatically what happened on 6 December 1917 at 9:05 when two ships carrying munitions and war supplies collided in the Halifax Harbour. The poem shows the tragic toll the resulting explosion and fire took on the residents of Halifax and the surrounding area, which stretched all the way north to Africville. Dr. Cooper commemorates the Halifax Explosion through verse and highlights the experiences of the Black Haligonians in this disaster. Her powerful words are magnified in this book with dramatic historical photographs and poignant art.
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Is It Weather or Is It Climate Change? Answers to Your Questions About Extreme Weather
Written by Rachel Salt
Firefly Books, 2024
IL: Ages 12 and up RL: Grades 7-8
Heatwaves. Floods. Wildfires. Damaging hurricanes. The weather seems to be getting worse these days. But is it just the weather, or is it the result of a rapidly changing climate? In Is It Weather or Is It Climate Change?, author Rachel Salt answers five key questions about climate change: What is climate change? What causes it? How do we know it's real? Does climate change cause extreme weather? And can we still prevent the worst impacts? Young readers are then taken on a global survey of recent weather disasters and learn how climate change can be linked to each one.
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Mountain of Fire: Into the Heart of Volcanoes
Written by Julie Roberge
Illustrated by Aless MC
Translated by Charles Simard
Orca Book Publishers, 2023
IL: Ages 9-12 RL: Grades 4-5
Krakatoa. Kilimanjaro. Vesuvius. The destructive power of volcanoes has claimed more than 250,000 lives since the beginning of civilization. Whether as objects of worship or of terror, they have shaped our world and fed the human imagination. And they can be found just about everywhere, from ancient Pompeii to the geysers of Yellowstone to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and the surface of Jupiter. Teaming up with award-winning illustrator Aless MC, volcanologist Julie Roberge takes us on a journey to the heart of the earth to discover the most famous of these geological monsters.
Rising Seas: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World
Written by Keltie Thomas
Illustrated by Belle Wuthrich and Kath Boake W.
Firefly Books, 2023
IL: Ages 9-13 RL: Grades 4-5
The Earth's oceans are on the rise. Since 1880, global sea levels have risen steadily each year to a global average of about 8-9 inches (20-23 cm), and they're still rising. By 2100, the sea could climb as much as 6.6 feet (2 m) higher than it is today.
Rising Seas gives youth an eye-popping view of what the Earth might look like under the rising sea levels of climate change. Photographs juxtapose the present-day with that area's projected future. The shocking images will help readers understand the urgency for action. This updated and expanded edition features three new locations—London, UK, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and Manila, Philippines—as well as brand new sections about climate anxiety (and what you can do about it) and how the world worked together to close the ozone hole, giving young readers a reason to hope for a better future.
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Book list curated by Spencer Miller