“Rain, rain, go away” was what quite a few of us in northern and central Virginia were thinking last night! In the spirit of yesterday’s rainy and windy weather, I offer a selection of rain-themed books sure to sweep away those rainy day blues.
Rain makes many different sounds. It can go “drip drop” or “plip plop,” but it can also “ping ping pingading” on a tin roof, “whoosh and hiss” on a highway, and “bup bup bup bup” on an umbrella. In Mary Serfozo’s Rain Talk, the many different sounds of raindrops are described to us by a young African-American girl in a yellow flowered sundress. She delights in the rain as it pours down around her; eventually, her mother calls her in. After supper, bath, and bedtime stories, she drifts off to sleep as the rain “drum-a-tum-a-Drum[s]” on the roof. The following morning brings bright sunshine, with the hope of spying a rainbow. Although there is not much story to the book, children will be drawn to the rain sounds and the playfulness of our young friend. Be sure to practice this one before storytime; you may stumble over the rain sounds.
Remember the fun of jumping into puddles? Jonathan London delightfully captures the simple kid-pleasure of puddle jumping in his aptly titled Puddles. Nighttime brings fierce thunder and rain, but daytime brings sunshine and puddles. Mama warns them to stay away from puddles in order to not get wet. It’s not long before our two young siblings discover “[P]uddles! Big one, little ones, long ones, skinny ones–pieces of sky on the ground. It’s time to puddle-jump! Splash splash splash!” All right!
Not only are there puddles, but there’s mud that slups, worms that squirm, frogs playing in the pond, and on the way home from the great outdoor adventure are more puddles. “It’s time to puddle-jump again! We can hit every puddle from the pond to the meadow-splash splash splash!” Of course, this excursion has made these two rascals very wet, so it’s off to hot baths and hot chocolate….before they run outside for more puddles.
I adore this book! These two little guys are so innocently mischievous that it’s difficult to not cheer them on. Not only is it a great rain-themed book, but it’s a wonderful celebration of children exploring nature.
Once, there was a water hole. The animals came to the water hole to quench their thirst, to bathe, and to meet fellow members of the species. Eventually, the water hole was no more, and the animals went away. However, a raindrop fell. It was joined by many other raindrops, providing much needed water for the animals, who were back at the old watering hole.
The Water Hole contains a multitude of goodies; gorgeous illustrations of exotic and/or well-known animals, a counting theme, and a very brief explanation of the rain cycle. While there are amusing comments sprinkled throughout the story, omitting them from your read aloud will not detract from the story (older children will appreciate the asides).
Some songs-to-story books succeed, while others fail to make a satisfying read aloud. Maurie J. Manning’s The Aunts Go Marching clearly falls into the former category. The book opens quite calmly with a two-page illustration of a preschool girl in a jaunty yellow raincoat and hat marching and playing the drums down the street, accompanied by her small white dog and her patient-looking aunt. We also see other similarly-aged women emerging from their townhouses while opening their sturdy black umbrellas.
The aunts go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!
The aunts go marching one by one, hurrah! Hurrah!
The aunts go marching one by one
The little one stops to bang on her drum
And they all go marching down to the town
In the rain, in the rain.
Rat a tat-tat! Rat a tat-tat! Ba-rump, ba-rump, ba-rump!
And so it goes. The (multiethnic) parade of aunts marches down the street, while the little one stops to do a variety of things.
The illustrations *make* this book. While it’s a fun read aloud to a crowd, this is undeniably one that benefits from one-on-one close inspection and interaction. Whether it’s an aerial illustration of the aunts marching nine by nine, the antics of the dog, or the interaction between an aunt and the child, the illustrations practically demand that you spend some time gazing at them. This is one of my “new” favorites.
Do you have any favorite rainy-day themed books?
Books Mentioned:
Base, Graeme. The Water Hole. New York: Harry N. Abrams, 2001.
London, Jonathan. Puddles. New York: Viking, 1997.
Manning, Maurie J. The Aunts Go Marching. Honesdale, PA: Boyds Mill Press, 2003.
Serfozo, Mary. Rain Talk. New York: Margaret K. McElderry Books, 1990.