Grandson is collecting all the Magic Tree House books and guides--haven't had a chance to read this one w/him yet -- but we haven't been disappointed yet. These are great books for children -- 1st - 3rd grade level especially. The guides are more detailed than the stories --- so can read over and over at different ages and the child will understand more each time.

This book has some very interesting information on tsunamis. It has many pictures of the events of the 2004 tsunami, tells you how tsunamis occur and shows pictures of other tsunamis that have occured in history. It tells a few stories from survivors of the 2004 tsunami, talks about how each individual country was affected in detail and about the efforts that will be required to help get life back to normal . For the price it was value for money.

When I bought this book I expected to learn about what it was like to live through the world's worst natural disaster. The book did just that, but it was also so much more. I learned about four Thai families who have led very different lives than those of us in the United States. The book starts off by telling how these four families came to this fishing village. Most of them came out of desperation. Each of them had lost a family member from starvation or through other horrible circumstances. They had no money, no where to live, and would work for less than a dollar a day. For most of them, it took years to get on their feet. They slaved in tin mines, stole lobster out of Burmese traps like pirates, and took jobs with abusive bosses. You watch as they slowly piece together their lives, find love and hope. Then the tsunami hits. I had pictures in my head of what that day was like, but the picture the author paints through the people in the book is nothing like I imagined. It is fifty times worse. Dang, one of the women in the book, spent days looking for the body of her daughter. Then, when she was at her lowest, a company wanting to buy a hotel on her land, threatened to take her life if she returned. Wimon, another person in the book, lost eight members in his family. While he was looking for them, he realized that no help was coming to his village (it was all at the tourist spots) and put his grief on hold in order to get help to his neighbors.

About the prophecy in Israel and God

"The Doors of the Sea" subtitled, "Where Was God in the Tsunami?" It's written by an Eastern Orthodox theologian, David Bentley Hart. And it's a fine work that demands careful reading. I read and then re-read it. It is short (109 pages), lyrical and literary. The title tells it all. Hart's book is an expansion of an op ed piece he wrote entitled "Tremors of Doubt: What Kind of a God Would Allow a Deadly Tsunami?" that was published in the Wall Street Journal, on the last day of the year in 2004.

Unfortunately I've learned that the government of Indonesia is playing games with the relief money, much like North Korea and Iraq did, and very little of the relief money is getting to the people who need it. On the front page it states "This book supports asian disaster relief". Beyond the politics, I bought this magazine as a historical document. Generations from now I can tell the younger generation "I survived the Tsunami and all I got was this lousy magazine". Instead of sending monies over to these countries, The United States should have offered relief effort in terms of building a better infrastructure for the affected countries. It's a win-win situation. Out of work Americans could work, like they did Kuwait, tax free and the people who are suffering due to this horrific event, would get the relief they need. No more cash. It only gets abused.

I found this book interesting, even though it was written before the major tsunami of 2005. It told me that tsunamis have happened before and that they happen often enough. It is just amazing how strong the last one was.

About the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami.