Raining Cats and Dogs: A Collection of Irresistible Idioms and Illustrations to Tickle the Funny Bones of Young People

by Will Moses

Have you ever wondered how someone can be “in a pickle” when pickles are so small, or why mothers say you’re “on thin ice” even when you’re indoors? Are you perplexed that your father “brings home the bacon” but is a strict vegetarian? Will Moses has the answers, and sheds light not only on these idioms but dozens more with Raining Cats and Dogs . Using his trademark folk-art style, Moses infuses a sense of mischief and humor into these often puzzling phrases, educating readers while entertaining them.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, School

40 pages, Hardcover

First published September 18, 2008

About the author

Born and raised here, in Eagle Bridge, New York, Will Moses creates paintings that reflect the quiet beauty of this tiny community nestled close to the Vermont border. Will has created a vivid, delightful miniature world, peopled with villagers who have stepped out of the past to charm us with their simple, everyday pastimes.

As a fourth generation member of the renowned Moses family, painting is a natural tradition for Will, who began painting when he was four years old. Encouraged by his grandfather, a well-known folk painter in his own right, young Will was allowed to experiment freely with paints. Forrest K. Moses was totally committed to self-expression and passed this freedom of spirit along to his young grandson. Stimulated by his grandfather's confident approach, Will developed his own unique style of Americana.

Today, Will continues to carry on the family tradition. Although his style is reminiscent of that of his celebrated great-grandmother, it is more complex and sophisticated.

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Reviews

[Mischenko]

Raining Cat and Dogs by Will Moses is a cute book featuring close to 50 popular idioms for kids to learn. It has funny illustrations and explains what each idiom means.

4****

[Mischenko]

Raining Cat and Dogs by Will Moses is a cute book featuring close to 50 popular idioms for kids to learn. It has funny illustrations and explains what each idiom means.

4****

[Aneesa]

A lot

[Mary Catherine]

This book could be a fun enrichment text for students learning about idioms, but otherwise it's use is limited. Some of the idioms are slightly outdated and harder to understand, but a few classic sayings that children will understand can be found, which is sure to keep the wanting to read more. Overall, it isn't one of my most favorite peices of children's literaature, but every book has its moment.

[Slow Man]

Yes my funny bones are tickled even though I am no longer belong to the young people category. The drawings are cute. The examples are fitting. I wish this can be found on the table in the dentist’s waiting room or under someone’s bed or under a tree or on the deck of a ship sailing to nowhere.

[Suzi]

It's raining here and I was looking for a fun rainy day book. I love children's books because I love illustrations and wit. This has both. Basically it's an idiom or saying, its definition, a description of what it means, and a witty illustration. I wish I got to read to kids! Fun.

[Karla]

Good book to pick up and put down- not a cover to cover
Still prefer Arnold's Parts to anything else- it's just the gold standard
this wasn't bad
better to have many and draw comparison from

[Solange Guillen]

Lovely and entertaining. We sure learned some new idioms.

[Danette]

My 6 yr old lost interest

[Barbara Lovejoy]

I enjoyed this book so much, especially the illustrations, I might want to buy my own copy.

[Lillian Slater]

Not relayed in an interesting or memorable way, literally just stated facts

[Nancy]

Clever book explaining idioms with a definition, an example sentence and wonderful illustrations.

[Rianna *Hermione* B]

"knock your spots off" is the only one I was fuzzy on. Since when did the phrase turn from "socks" to "spots?"

[Amanda]

Fabulous tool for teaching idioms to children that lack the ability to understand some social situations, and idioms! It even has an index in the back with the idioms explained in alphabetical order. Great book to have on hand.

[Whole And]

Excellent resource for learning about idioms that truly tickle the funny book. Love the way Will Moses puts all his books together. However, this book does give historical details of how the idioms came to be, only what they mean.

[Susan]

Good definitions of idioms, but I found a lot of the examples misleading and confusing.

[Susan]

A fun way to explain some of the more common English idioms.

[Kari]

Most were still a bit over Rory's head.

[Cindy]

A good resource to have in the classrooms, but some of the examples were not very clear and could still confuse the reader. Some examples were good.

[Jim]

great book for esl students as well as kids. and each illo could be framed

[Nicole]

Will Moses is the great-grandson of Grandma Moses, a heritage reflected in his folk-art style. This was a nice compilation of common idioms with fun illustrations to clarify.

[Camila]

This entire book is a collection of idioms! Its' raining cats and dogs, I'm in a pickle, the early bird catches the worm! The illustrations are hilarious!

[Elaine]

I thought this would be a fun way for my youngers to learn some idioms, but the humorous looks at the idioms somewhat confused the meanings for these guys. Maybe we'll try again when they're older.

[Shiloah]

Great children's book on teaching idioms. I wish he would have included the origins.

[Kelly]

Book of idioms with definitions and drawings. Use this as a mentor text and have students create their own idiom books.

[Kelsey Yates]

It is funny to read these sayings (kick the bucket, get your goat) and try to explain them to my 7 year old. She had me renew it from the library because she found it so interesting.

[Jamie Hayes]

This book is a nice collection of Idioms. Each idiom is explained and colorfully illustrated. A nice piece to have for explaining Idioms to other, teaching silly sounding idioms to a child, or for a quick fun read.

[Laurel]

Good list of idioms of the English language. Great for ESL. Had great definitions but the example sentences weren't always clear and when matched with the picture being too literal sometimes it caused confusion.