Rain, Rain, Everywhere

by Christine Leeson, Gaby Hansen (Illustrator)

From School Library Journal PreSchool-K-On a spring day, Mouse Molly and her siblings go outside to play and are caught in a storm. They turn down offers of refuge from a squirrel, a harvest mouse, and a group of rabbits, before Mother finds them and leads them to shelter in a hollow tree. When they are safe and dry, Molly worries about her new meadow friends. She ventures out into the storm, finds the animals displaced (there is no explanation of what happened to their homes), and offers them refuge in the tree. In the morning, they awake to find a rainbow, which Harvest Mouse tells Molly is "a special present for saving us." Hansen's beautiful watercolor illustrations are visions of spring, done on a perfect mix of single pages and spreads, and her cartoon animals are large and expressive. Unfortunately, the plot is implausible and didactic, and the story presents a sugarcoated message about taking care of friends. Realistic tales about animal homes in nature that are more informative and comforting include Jim Arnosky's Rabbits and Raindrops (Putnam, 1997), Nancy Tafuri's I Love You, Little One (Scholastic, 1997), and Lydia Dabcovich's Sleepy Bear

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction

32 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Jen Goeden · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book ”Rain, Rain, Everywhere is about a little mouse who gets stuck in a rainstorm with her brother and sister. When the three of them are trying to find their way home they meet many friends that try to help them but they do not feel their house is safe enough.

This is a very cute book that I can see reading out aloud to your class in the spring time. It teaches a little lesson that if you try to help someone and when you come in trouble they will return the favorer. Students will enjoy reading to find out what happens to the three mice. As a teacher you could read this story and then lead into a science class on where different animals live. Students may enjoy finding out what different animals house look like.

[Grannyreadsalot]

Beautiful illustrations, but story kind of cheesy and doesn't all fit