When the Rain Comes

by Alma Fullerton, Kim LaFave (Illustrator)

“Although set in faraway Sri Lanka, Fullerton’s rhythmic tale holds a universal that even the smallest and youngest among us can summon up the courage to face, and overcome, the most gargantuan challenges.”— Kirkus ★ Starred Review It is time to plant the rice crop in Malini’s Sri Lankan community, and the little girl is both excited and nervous to help for the first time. What if she does it wrong? Will she be responsible if the crop fails? When the oxcart rumbles in loaded with seedlings, she reluctantly agrees to watch the big, imposing animal while the driver takes a break. Suddenly, the skies go dark with monsoon rain. A flash flood pours down the road, separating Malini from the driver and her family. They are shouting for her to run for higher ground, but what about the rice? Summoning courage she never dreamed she possessed, Malini resolves to save ox, cart, and seedlings, no matter what it takes. Award-winning author Alma Fullerton tells Malini’s story in expressive free verse that vibrates with emotion and energy. The moods of Sri Lanka’s rainy season come alive as Kim La Fave , illustrator of the award-winning Shin Chi’s Canoe , uses a fresh style that is both contemporary and impressionistic to depict the courage of one little girl facing the power of a monsoon. “A powerful portrait of a child’s bravery and perseverance.”— The Horn Book Magazine “La Fave’s richly colored illustrations dramatically and effectively convey the contrast between the calm, sunny day and the intensity of the storm.”— School Library Journal

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Cultural, Animals, Asia, Geography, Asian Literature

32 pages, Paperback

First published February 8, 2017

About the author

Alma Fullerton was first known for her award-winning free-verse novels for juvenile and young-adult readers, including the Governor General's Award-nominated Libertad. Alma's picture book A Good Trade was a White Ravens Choice, a Bank Street Best Book, and a nominee for a number of awards. In a Cloud of Dust won the Rainforest of Reading Award and was a finalist for the Marilyn Baillie Picture Book Award. When the Rain Comes was a 2018 USBBY Outstanding International Book, among other honors, and Community Soup was a CCBC Best Books for Kids & Teens Starred Selection. Alma lives in Midland, Ontario

Reviews

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeous imagery and color work. The story is quick but very captivating. I especially appreciated the ending that provided factual information about Sri Lanka and their economics and culture.

[Jana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This riveting picture book tells the story of a brave young girl in SriLanka who must face brutal weather and the resulting flash flood to pull an oxen and cartload of rice shoots to the safety of the family barn in order to prevent the young plants from being lost in the storm. When Malini is asked to watch the oxen while the driver goes into the cafe for a break, a storm breaks and she is separated from the driver and her family by a flash flood. It's up to her to save the family's plants or they would experience a devastating loss to their income and main food source. The illustrations are bold and work so well with this dramatic narrative.

[Lin Lin]

Malini stayed calm with the ox and saved the whole cart of seeds in the strong storm. This is the first children's book I have read that is about Sri Lanka. Rice, next to tea, is a second most important crop that is cultivated during the two monsoon seasons. During those seasons, it rains daily, and sometimes it brings storms and floods. Ox, cart, and seeds are important resources for rural families in Sri Lanka for most of its people who live in rural areas.

[Sirah · Rating 4 out of 5]

One little girl is tasked with holding onto the ox for just a few minutes, but then the rain comes, bringing rushing rivers and a wind strong enough to steal away the essential seedlings in the oxcart. If the child can't conquer her fears, her whole village may starve this year.

Really lovely artwork and an inspiring story. It doesn't exactly stand out, but it's a fun read.

[Andréa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Note: I received an unbound galley of this book from the publisher at ALA Midwinter 2017.

[Michelle Brandstetter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exciting and scary story with a [spoiler alert!] happy ending.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything depends on rice and the rice crop planted by the villagers in Malini's Sri Lankan community. Malini is thrilled to finally be entrusted with a role in this ritual, but a monsoon brings a flashflood that threatens the rice seedlings in the cart she is watching. The storm frightens her and the ox who is carrying the cart with its precious cargo. Although Malini wants to flee and seek refuge for herself, she knows that she is the only one who can save the rice and the future of the villagers. The text vividly captures her very real fears of drowning or being stepped on and injured by the ox and the courage she somehow draws from within while the brightly-painted impressionistic illustrations thrust readers deep into the story and its particular setting and juxtapose the immense animal alongside the tiny girl. Back matter spells out the importance of rice in Sri Lanka while also identifying its geographic location.

[A Canadian Girl · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations and text in When the Rain Comes work really well together to highlight Malini’s feelings and show the importance of rice to her village and the dangers of a monsoon. The back of the book tells a little bit more about Sri Lanka and how reliant the country’s population is on rice.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I find very few picture books that really tell a story. That are engaging for both the young and the old. This story is one you can read over and over. You can feel the emotion of the importance of the rice seedlings. I'm happy we stumble upon this book.

[Juliana · Rating 5 out of 5]

When the Rain Comes is a book that portrays a lot of different emotions, the book follows a girl named Melania and her ox. In this story there is bad storm and malinia's wants to find safety but she wants her ox to be safe too and she can't take the ox into the house so she is going through the storm trying to find a safe place and ounce she does her and the ox wait out the storm until they are both safe. Throughout this book it gives the readers a image that malinia's and the ox have close friendship throughout he language and the images. While the storm was going on and malinia's was finding a place to stay the emotions were heightened the readers didn't know what was going on the next page. EMOTIONS are a big comment of this book that can relate to a lesson and or project and really focuses on how malinia's was feeling about the storm, leaving her ox, finding a place to stay, etc. The descriptive language in the book will teach the children new vocabulary when describing their emotions but also give them clues to how she is feeling.

[Lauren Carr · Rating 4 out of 5]

“When the Rain Comes” by Alma Cullerton uses many literary techniques to craft a story highlighting the importance of agriculture to some villages as well as the dangers of flash floods. The author combines personification, onomatopoeia, and repetition to tell the harrowing story of a girl and an ox fighting a flooded street and saving what rice seedlings they could. The book also uses large double spread images with varying colors to properly reflect the mood in the story. This picturebook can be used to teach children how unexpectedly flash floods can happen and that they should also find high ground. Therefore, this story could easily be paired with tracing the weather in the classroom and spark interest in other natural weather events. Overall, this story is okay and would most likely be taken as an entertainment piece to children.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is more for elementary school students than for very young toddlers.

It follows a young girl in Sri-Lanka during the rainy monsoon season. The story starts with the girl hoping she will do a good job planting rice seeds, but then she gets caught in heavy storm flooding with an ox, who is tied to a cargo of rice seeds. (Spoiler alert - it ends well for the girl & ox).

My kids asked a lot of questions at the end of this book - which is always a huge plus. We talked about how seasons in different countries can differ from our seasons, and discussed floods. We also discussed Asia a little.

Definitely recommend for older children who are curious to know about life in other areas of the world.

[Amy Layton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fantastic little book dealing with real-time problem solving and survival.  When a heavy rain impedes one young girl's first time helping with the rice crop, she doesn't know what to do.  The ox is carrying the supplies, and the ox is getting more and more frightened by the second.  What can she possibly do?  With vibrant colors and an evocative narrative, this book certainly serves as a means to teach about a culture unlike our own through emotional experiences we can all understand.  Great for grades 1-3.

Review cross-listed here!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out of Canada, the author of In A Cloud of Dust brings a new story of the rain that brings goodness to the crops of most of the people who live in Sri Lanka, but can also bring danger. An ox-cart filled with rice seedlings comes into town and young Malini is excited to hear the clop-clop coming because it will soon be planting day. She's asked by the driver to hold the ox while he takes a break. While he's gone, the wind and rain of the monsoon comes "whoosh whoosh whoosh" and goes "Boom boom booming". Malini would love to run away but stays holding on. The ox is huge and stamps its feet, and Malini hangs on. I won't give away the ending, but an author letter at the back explains how children in Sri Lanka help with the crops. While education is important to the families, having crops to harvest and sell, and then to eat means survival. The illustrations as you can see from the cover are stylistic and highly emotional, from rain to sun, from escape to welcome. I liked them a lot.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not many books are written about Sri Lanka, and this one incorporates some vocabulary and experiences that are unique to that country. The author's note at the end helps with comprehension of the story and where it takes place in the scope of the world.

[McKenzie Braaten · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book follows a little girl who is so excited for planting season in her village. She is in charge of watching an ox when a huge rain storm overcomes her. She is brave and resilient, a great role model and window or door for many children!!

[MaryLibrarianOH · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief introduction to what it looks like to live in Sri Lanka.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Highlights both the uniqueness of a rural Sri Lankan girl's life and the universality of courage in the face of adversity. Good read-aloud for kindergarten and up.

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bookaday #45. A brave girl saves the village'srice seedlings in a flash flood. We see what happens at the end to the girl, she leads the ox out of the barn, but what happens to it?

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated, lyrical tale of finding one's courage.

[Rebecca Gomez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lyrical and surprising dramatic. The gorgeous illustrations capture the action and mood of the story well.

[Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this but I would have loved to know that it took place in Sri Lanka before reading the author's note.

[Sarah Threlkeld · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lyrical text and beautiful illustrations.

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of child farming in Sri Lanka.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unique cultural story about rain. Beautiful illustrations. Nice large text, makes it easy to read aloud.

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simple tale showing how fear can become courage when the need arises. At the end, the author's note tells us about Sri Lanka, where the story takes place.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I’ll read it a few more times before I decide if I’ll include in this year.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

It had some hard words in it.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set in Sri Lanka, a truly glorious, yet simple story of a child saving her family's ox and the seedlings for their livelihood crop when a monsoon storm arrives. Beautiful, colorful, imaginative illustrations.

[Stephanie Tournas · Rating 5 out of 5]

A picture book set in Sri Lanka. A little girl tries to protect her family's ox during the monsoon. Imaginative text and design, gorgeous watered colors.