McBroom the Rainmaker

Adventures of McBroom

by Sid Fleischman

When a great drought on the prairie causes cows to give powdered milk and mosquitoes to grow almost as large as small cowsheds, McBroom comes up with a novel idea for producing rain.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Fantasy

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

As a children's book author Sid Fleischman felt a special obligation to his readers. "The books we enjoy as children stay with us forever -- they have a special impact. Paragraph after paragraph and page after page, the author must deliver his or her best work." With almost 60 books to his credit, some of which have been made into motion pictures, Sid Fleischman can be assured that his work will make a special impact.

Sid Fleischman wrote his books at a huge table cluttered with projects: story ideas, library books, research, letters, notes, pens, pencils, and a computer. He lived in an old-fashioned, two-story house full of creaks and character, and enjoys hearing the sound of the nearby Pacific Ocean.

Fleischman passed away after a battle with cancer on March 17, 2010, the day after his ninetieth birthday.

He was the father of Newbery Medal winning writer and poet Paul Fleischman, author of Joyful Noise; they are the only father and son to receive Newbery awards.

Reviews

[Jen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of goggles while this story was being read. It does have a lot of words that aren't as common these days and some that are tongue twisters but the illustrations are top notch.

[J. Boo · Rating 4 out of 5]

McBroom, a farmer with eleven children, tells tall tales of his unlikely adventures.

I ran into this while browsing through the moving sale books of a former kindergarten teacher with excellent taste, and got excited - I'd read at least one of these as a child, and had been recently racking my brains in an attempt to recall enough of the plot to have a stab at finding it. Bought all of the series that she had, read them with enjoyment, and was planning on introducing it to DS#1 (age 6). Before I could do that, he came to me waving the book excitedly:

"I read the whole book while sitting on the potty!"
Did you like it?
"It was great!"
Was McBroom telling the truth?
"Of course he was!"

Asked a couple of questions and while he definitely missed any subtext, he did grasp the basics of the plot. A bit too advanced for him, but looking forward to queueing these up for bedtime reading practice.

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

Another book in the McBroom adventure series. I didn't like this one very much but is was still entertaining. The pieces of the story felt more disjointed.

The best part of this book for me was that no matter how desperate the drought became or how dire his neighbors predictions, McBroom stuck to his decision not to buy rusty old nails marketed as "rain magnets." Fear and peer pressure move people to act in ways they normally wouldn't. I'm grateful McBroom didn't give in.

Sure he travels with wagon loads of soil to chase a rain cloud with a rain bird in order to grow onions big enough to make humongous mosquitos cry, but he doesn't buy those silly nails. :)

Age recommendation: 5-10

[Hyrum · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not really like it because there was a big drought and there was all these mosquitos and then he got this bird who senses rain. And then Mcbroom was called the rainmaker because he got the rain back. He got onions to grow and it made the mosquitos cry.

[Yoi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un grand classique de mon enfance, lu pour la première fois il y a dix ans et relu cette année et qui m'a paru bien plus court... Mais toujours aussi drôle. J'admire l'inventivité de cette histoire et son absurdité.

[Hillvan]

630L