For a time, my little brother and I used to hurry down to the basement at the first rumble of thunder. We’d curl up on the old green sofa and listen to the transistor radio just in case a tornado cropped up. Thankfully, that never happened.

While there is so much to love about the wind, rain, and snow, and so many different ways to play, it’s also true that weather is sometimes scary for children. Storms can be noisy and sometimes dangerous. It’s natural and even wise for children to feel some apprehension. However, children, like my brother and me, often develop big fears that trouble them as weather shifts or storms approach.

For times like these, the I Like the Weather series can be comforting medicine. Reading I Like the Rain during a thunderstorm, for example, may help a frightened child refocus on the joyful, intriguing, sensory delights of rain and even storms. The back matter will help parents and teachers explain some common questions and concerns. In all three of the books (I Like the Rain, I Like the Snow, and I Like the Wind) there are scenes and language evoking strong weather, but the weather in the books—like weather in real life—always calms. Easy breezes blow in, sunshine reappears, snowflakes settle and beckon children out to play.

These messages are gently embedded into each book and can be very reassuring to children when wind whirls or thunder booms. I hope that through these playful stories, your children will grow to love the weather and feel more confident, too, that storms always pass.

Here are more comforting reads for stormy weather by other authors.