One Monday Morning

I can't tell you how thankful I am for all this rain!  Our lawn was beginning to look like we didn't care about it.  It's been so long since our last day of rain that the kids have delighted in this seemingly unusual occasion.  And you know how I feel about rainy days . . . they're the perfect excuse to enjoy pots of tea and snuggle down with some good books . . . oh, and the kids.

Today we're reading One Monday Morning by Uri Shulevitz.  If you haven't checked out a Uri Shulevitz book yet, here's your chance with the perfect rainy day read.  Shulevitz presents an enchanting, imaginative book that also teaches the days of the week and sequencing skills.  And, as in most of Shulevitz's books, his illustrations depict a broader, detailed story than his actual text.  So, really, why would you want to miss out on this enriching book?

Storms

Hi, readers!  It seems that we've had evenings filled with thunderstorms with very few exceptions.  And in trying to make the moments a fun-filled, memorable time instead of a fearful time of skirting thunder and lightning, I found these two reads that the kids have enjoyed. 

In Waiting Out the Storm (c. 2010), author JoAnn Early Macken cleverly captures the dialogue between mother and child.  She faithfully represents the uncertainty of the child experiencing the approaching storm as well as a mother's tender responses to quell her child's alarm:

They burst from the cloud,

skipping and leaping and laughing out loud.

They spin and they tumble.  They bounce on the breeze.

They dance to the tune of the wind in the trees.

Susan Gaber's beautiful illustrations further illuminate the peacefulness a storm can bring.  This is by far our favorite "storm" book due to Macken's reassuring text and Gaber's comforting illustrations.

Margaret Bloy Graham's illustrations make The Storm Book (c.1952) by Charlotte Zolotow worth checking out.  Graham received a Caldecott Honor for her panoramic illustrations.  The publishers uniquely presented the story by placing the text alone on each spread, and then by placing the follow-up picture.  At first I didn't know what to think of the presentation.  However, I grew to like the perspective of allowing our imaginations to run wild with Zolotow's text before seeing the motion in Graham's illustrations.

Noah's Ark

 It's that time of year - the kids stand at the windows, salivating at the sight of all those glorious puddles, anticipation etched on their faces and rain boots (i.e. galoshes, wellies, gumboots) lined by the door.

Peter Spier's Caldecott Medal winning Noah's Ark (c. 1977) seemed an appropriate picture book under the circumstances.  When you think of Noah's Ark, do you think of the classic childhood toy where the animals march into the ark two-by-two in a nicely double-file line?  I did.  Peter Spier (quoted by Doubleday as one of the "most gifted illustrators in this country") presents quite another image ~ a realistic portrayal of what must have happened.  Spier persuades with images, powerfully telling this story with intricately detailed illustrations rather than words.  His illustrations left me saying to the Mister, "I bet Noah and his wife were sooooooooo ready to get off that ark!"  Oh how I love Spier's humor!  There's a picture of Noah fishing after the rain lets up that give new meaning to the phrase: "I'm just going out for a while."  And then there's the descent from the ark . . . ALL those rabbits!

Needless to say, I highly recommend revisiting Noah's Ark through Peter Spier's perspective.  Spier captures the enormity of the task from building the ark to life at sea, shedding further appreciation onto that very first covenant rainbow.

If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo

Here's a case where the title of a book perfectly and succinctly describes the story contained inside the book.  Written by Mary Jean Hendrick and illustrated by Jane Dyer, If Anything Ever Goes Wrong at the Zoo (1993) beautifully blurs the line between the real and the imaginative.  You'll see that magic reflected on your children's faces and in their twinkling eyes as you read this inventive story.  My youngest didn't ask a single question through the reading of this book.  And that's saying an awful lot!

Note:

• This is a wonderful title to read on a rainy day.
• Be sure to read this other delightful story about a trip to the zoo.

Rain Rain Rivers

Once again Uri Shulevitz provides us with a beautifully illustrated and lyrical book entitled Rain Rain Rivers (1969).  Check it out.  And listen.

The Most Perfect Spot

Make sure you check out The Most Perfect Spot (c. 2006) by Diane Goode.  Dear son, Jack, sets out with his mama to find "the most perfect spot for a picnic."  Unfortunately, various mishaps seem to accompany them.  Be sure to look for the spotted dog on each page, for Goode always tells her stories as much with her illustrations as her text.

Audrey Wood & Don Wood

Audrey and Don Wood totally get it!  This author / illustrator duo understand what kids want when they open up a book.  Not only that, they both cater to a child's quirky sense of humor.  One of the greatest pleasures in reading to children is that they so readily suspend their disbelief.  And a willing suspension of disbelief comes in quite handy with Don and Audrey Wood's books, making their absurd story line down-right riotous!

The Napping House (c. 1991) plays on the rhyme, rhythm, and repetition similar to This is the House that Jack Built while describing the sleeping arrangement of those in the household as they take their cozy, afternoon nap -- that's to say: how they're cuddled up upon "the snoring granny."  The illustrations first depict the circumstances under the shadow of a dark, rainy day.  Gradually each page becomes a touch more illuminated as the images brighten with the sun's arrival.  Additionally, The Napping House remains one of our Nana's favorite stories.  She uses it in her kindergarten classroom as a fun teaching tool for sequencing skills, vocabulary words (i.e. slumbering, snoozing, and dozing), and language arts activities (i.e. building the story with illustrated activity blocks, building words with the movable alphabet, and creating words by substituting the letters with another letter sound).

In King Bidgood's in the Bathtub (c. 1985), Audrey Wood presents the problem in the opening line:
                "Help! Help!" cried the Page when the sun came up.  
                "King Bidgood's in the bathtub, and he won't get out!  
                 Oh, who knows what to do?"
Several in the Elizabethan kingdom try to coax the king out of the bathtub . . . to no avail.  What's a page to do?  Find out in this delightfully comical story.  The kids feed off the hilarity of the storyline and have self-memorized the lines to recite whenever then need a good laugh.  It comes as no surprise that Don Wood received a Caldecott honor for King Bidgood's in the Bathtub in 1986 since the kids enjoy pouring over his brilliant oil paintings as much as they enjoy repeating the story.  Once again, Wood illuminates his illustrations in relation to the sun and moon's course. 

Don't let your kid's childhood slip away without introducing them to King Bidgood's in the Bathtub and The Napping House.  We've heard from Solomon that laughter is the best medicine; give your family their fill with these two titles.  So before the weekend begins, pick up at least one of these titles from your local library to take home and share with your family.  I guarantee you, you'll be glad you did (even those older ones will sneak in the room to hear King Bidgood's antics)!


If you'd like to discover more about Don and Audrey Wood, check out their website here.

Umbrella

Thank goodness we've had two rainy, fall days!  You know the kind: where you wish you could snuggle in bed all morning long, especially after you look into the misty, rainy, leaf dropping day.

Have you read Umbrella by Taro Yashima?  It's wonderful!  It's about a Japanese girl named Momo ("the peach") living in New York City who receives rubber boots and an umbrella for her third birthday.  Momo longs for a rainy day . . . a rainy day where she can wear her rubber boots and use her umbrella.  Yashima's rhythmic use of language echos the "bon polo" (pitter-patter) of raindrops falling on an umbrella, making the textual imagery a bit musical to read aloud.  The illustrations also evoke the look of falling rain in its composition.  In addition, Japanese characters and their definitions are sprinkled throughout the text.  So read this one aloud, and then help your children unveil the riddle at the end!

 

Also of noteworthy mention, Yashima's Umbrella was a 1959 Caldecott Honor Winner.

Rain

We're so happy that it rained non-stop for the past two days!  We haven't had a decent puddle jumping, no lightning rain all summer.  Lately we've had 90 degree weather and dry, dry, dry. Finally, it's beginning to feel like fall might actually be around the corner.  So we did a little rain dance yesterday morning and pulled out our long sleeved shirts with great delight!

Our very, very favorite book to read when it rains is The Rain Came Down by David Shannon.  It's such a fun book to read aloud that I don't even mind reading it over and over and over.  First of all, the kids get quite a kick out of me making the animal sounds instead of just reading them.  Before you think this is another farm book (it's not), what we have in this story is a comedy of errors, all to be "blamed" on the rain.  Think of falling dominoes . . . one mishap leads to the next.  With all best rains, there's evidence of a rainbow at the end.  Rush to your library and read this to your children, even if it's not raining!


 In addition, our very, very favorite poem to say when it rains:

Rain

by Robert Louis Stevenson

The rain is raining all around,

  It falls on field and tree,

It rains on the umbrellas here,

  And on the ships at sea.