A Rainbow of My Own

by Don Freeman

A small boy imagines what it would be like to have his own rainbow to play with.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Nature, Storytime, 1st Grade, Art

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 20, 1966

About the author

Don Freeman was a painter, printmaker, cartoonist, children's book author, and illustrator. He was born in San Diego, California, attended high school in Missouri, and later moved to New York City where he studied etching with John Sloan.
Frequent subjects included Broadway theatre, politics, and the circus. He was also a jazz musician, and the brother of circus entrepreneur Randy Freeman.

Reviews

[Hilary]

A little boy goes outdoors after the rain to look at a rainbow. He tries to find the end and imagines what it would be like to play on. Although the illustrations are beautiful and this is a lovely idea it was spoilt slightly for me by the rainbow being depicted in the wrong colours/colour order, it didn't look right when everything else was in a realistic style.

Read on open library.

[Luisa Knight]

Freeman is such a delightful artist!

Ages: 4 - 8

See which rainy day books our family is enjoying: watch my reel!

Content Considerations: nothing to note.

**Like my reviews? Then you should follow me! Because I have hundreds more just like this one. With each review, I provide Content Considerations, mentioning any objectionable content I come across so that parents and/or conscientious readers (like me) can determine beforehand whether they want to read a book or not. Content surprises are super annoying, especially when you’re 100+ pages in, so here’s my attempt to help you avoid that!

If you’re considering a book or looking for a new title to read, check out my highly categorized shelves, read my reviews and Friend or Follow me to spiff up your feed with clean, wholesome, living books.

I have an Instagram account that’s pretty bookishly unique too!

[Laura (Book Scrounger)]

This was a cute story for my rainbow-loving girls -- it's short, but includes both imagination and a little bit of reality. I remember as a kid wondering what a rainbow would feel like -- I used to watch Disney's Fantasia and was a bit jealous of the flying horses and other creatures that got to slide down the rainbow in the "Pastoral Symphony" video.

[Laura]

Rainbows are magic! No matter how torn, battered, and bitter my heart gets, I will always believe magic can be found at the end of a rainbow. Not so sure about that pot of gold theory, but that’s a whole other story! ;)

With color, fun, and wonder, Don Freeman captures the remarkable, evanescent magic of a rainbow. The colors jump, shine, and pull readers into this little boy’s imagination and day of play with that beautiful band of color!

Whether it’s in the sky, on the wall, in these pages, or in my pocket—a rainbow can always make me crack a smile! :)

A pure, simple, beautiful book.


2/28/12

[Angie]

Synopsis: "A small boy imagines what it would be like to have his own rainbow to play with."

My Review: This was a very short story even for a children's book. It is nearly wordless but has good illustrations. The simple concept of chasing a rainbow and making it your own is something a lot of kids imagine and I enjoyed the conclusion how the little boy ends up with his own rainbow in his room.

[Renee]

My 5 year old absolutely loves this book!

[Alexis Parr]

Dawn

The character learns that the rainbow appears on its own.Then the character was in the house and he ran out the door to see the rainbow. The character said the rainbow wasn't there in the sky, but the rainbow was following him. The rainbow was playing and hopping over him. He climbed up the RAINBOW and he slid down the other side of the rainbow. It was a big bright rainbow slide and he was having a blast playing on the rainbow. He and the rainbow will make a peacock fan, so he can strut the rainbow peacock fan. The character and the rainbow were having so much fun together and he was even playing hide and seek. Eventually the rainbow hid so well that it disappeared, because the sun came out and was shining. Eventually you couldn’t see the rainbow.

Throughout the book the rainbow and the boy become such good friends. When a rainbow would come out the boy would see his best friend, which is the rainbow!

[Matthew]

A Rainbow of My Own (1966) by Don Freeman is a cute little story about a boy who sees a rainbow after it rains and goes outside to see it up close, but when it disappears he invents an imaginary rainbow to play with, but when the sun comes out, that rainbow, too, disappears. Luckily for the little boy when he returns home he discovers a new rainbow waiting for him in the most unlikely way. Not as memorable as Freeman's famous Corduroy book, but still enjoyable. Simple story with fun illustrations. My rating - 3/5

[Meghan Grimes]

I would say that this is a fantasy book because the rainbow is personified. I thought that this book was so cute when I first read it. A student in a class I had observed loved this book and told me about it. I think that the book sends a good message about having a positive attitude and trying to achieve what you want. I would use this book as an interactive read-aloud book. I might have students guess what may happen next in the story.

[Renegade Librarian Extraordinaire]

I remember reading this as a small child, but not really much about it. I only had an image in my mind of a kid in a rainbow-striped hammock.

I recently rediscovered the book because my library's children's department had it on a display of books about rain and rainbows (for April Showers, obvs.). It caught my eye and, standing there, I flipped through it and everything came back. It's a very cute story and I love the twist at the end.

This bit of nostalgia made me smile. Five stars 😊💕🌈

[Adriana]

A Rainbow of My Own was okay. I thought it was cute how the boy played with the rainbow which is sure to get some little kids imagination going. The art style and coloring feels like the classic read that it is. It's a good book to talk about how rainbows are made and a reflection activity could easily accompany it. Good for kindergarteners.

[Amy]

I subbed an after school storytime program, and the theme was rainbows. This was a really sweet read! I loved the beautiful illustrations and sweet words, as the little boy has an adventure chasing his own rainbow. Freeman beautifully stresses that good things are everywhere if you know where to look.

[Sasha]

This is a lovely tome by the author of Corduroy about trying to capture a rainbow. Reading it inevitably made me harken back to splashing puddle rainbows after a storm at the Circle K gas station, or wanting Dad to detour off the road to see where a rainbow sprawled across a field ended. Charming and saccharine.

[Amy Brydon Jones]

A beautiful story of a young child's imagination. The illustrations are bright and bold and this is why the book is nearly wordless, because the illustrations are enough as it is. I think this story could be used in a KS1 or EYFS art lesson when looking at different colours / painting.

[Cheryl]

Avl. on openlibrary, but I read a copy from the library!

I love the way that it combines an exploration of a creative imagination with a bit of a science lesson. Perfect intro. to youngsters' first actual science lessons about light and color. Also delightful on its own.

[Phylis Carpenter]

A cute little story about a little boy wanting hiss own rainbow to follow him around.

I read every day to my 2 year old grand daughter and she looks at the pictures as I read to her. She loves story time.

I think your little one will enjoy the story too.

[Rachel]

Cute story and great to help learn colors.

[The Lady Anna]

I used to have these elaborate fantasies about my toy animals running over rainbows. Recently found this book in my mom's attic.... that explains it.

[Jamie]

Very cute storytime read.

[Kerry]

Read with my 5yo

[Mrs. Ruigrok]

This imaginative story has been around for awhile. Although the illustrations seem dated now, young children will enjoy reading about the adventures with the rainbow.

[Ellie McGarvey]

I love the creative and writing of this book! The students loved it too!

[Clarissa]

A simple book about rainbows for young children.

[Eileen Carter]

Oh the joys of being a young chikd filled with wonder. This book is all about finding a rainbow.

[Chelsea]

Cute

[Jesse]

Mostly fantastical with some science thrown in at the end.

[Sandy]

A boy plays with a rainbow and then discovers one on his wall.

[Kari]

This is a nice one.

[Adalyn]

I really love this book sometimes but I like to read a lot of books at night.

[Brian Harris]

The illustrations in this book are fantastic!