What do you think?
Rate this book
One Big Rain
Go on... get wet!
Rita Gray has compiled twenty poems about precipitation, each written by well-known poets such as Kyoshi, Eve Merriam, Lilian Moore, and Carl Sandburg. Divided into poems written about rain within each of the four seasons, this compilation offers the reader a chance to revel in the beauty of precipitation and the poetry it inspires. The variety of poems opens the door for discussion of poetic styles, while Ryan O'Rourke's playful, yet sophisticated illustrations will appeal to readers of all ages.
Rita Gray has compiled twenty poems about precipitation, each written by well-known poets such as Kyoshi, Eve Merriam, Lilian Moore, and Carl Sandburg. Divided into poems written about rain within each of the four seasons, this compilation offers the reader a chance to revel in the beauty of precipitation and the poetry it inspires. The variety of poems opens the door for discussion of poetic styles, while Ryan O'Rourke's playful, yet sophisticated illustrations will appeal to readers of all ages.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2010
70 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
January 29, 2021
Thought the illustrations were good, the poetry, fair, but then I don't lay any claim to be a judge of poetry.
January 24, 2024
Cute for what it is, my only gripe with this book is that it is too short, too incomplete! This slim volume features a mere five poems for each season (and many of these are haiku, thereby contributing to the brief--and even abrupt--vibe), leaving an appetite only just whetted. There are scads of wonderfully suitable poems that could have been included which would have bulked it up handsomely. I have no idea why the compiler wanted to create such a tiny booklet.
Perhaps I just had unrealistic expectations due to not doing my homework before purchasing. For whatever reason, I thought it would be thicker and contain lots of classic children's poetry (such as Robert Louis Stevenson's "Rain" at the very least, which is not included). Just very disappointed by its brevity! More poems, please!
Perhaps I just had unrealistic expectations due to not doing my homework before purchasing. For whatever reason, I thought it would be thicker and contain lots of classic children's poetry (such as Robert Louis Stevenson's "Rain" at the very least, which is not included). Just very disappointed by its brevity! More poems, please!
May 31, 2017
A collection of poems from various poets including some from Rita Gray. Organized by season, all about rain.
December 12, 2017
I loved this book full of poems. The illustrations were so beautiful and the poems were great!
August 16, 2019
Lovely! Variety of poems, beautiful illustrations.
June 19, 2020
Simple and assorted poems about rain - including some from well known poets.
April 5, 2022
Charming! Loved the cover, and loved all the illustrations.
March 21, 2017
Loved the poems, loved the pictures.
December 11, 2015
Summary: "One Big Rain: Poems for Rainy Days” includes dozens of rain-themed poems, reflecting different styles and formats. The book itself organizes the poems within the four seasons – Autumn, Winter, Spring, Summer. Many of the poems relate the season to the theme of rain. Each section includes several Haiku poems, non-rhyming poems, and then also various forms of rhyming poems.
Characteristics That Support the Genre: While each passage included within this text does portray meaning, the book lacks traditional characters or plot. It is primarily focused on using evocative and aesthetic language to evoke feelings and imagery. Thus, this would be exclusively considered a poetry text.
Mentor Writing Traits: (1) Idea – Collecting or writing poetry to evoke feelings about one topic, in this case rain and the seasons, is a captivating idea for a text. (2) Sentence Fluency – The rhythm of each poem and the flow of the text make for a very pleasant, easy read. (3) Word Choice – Most of the poems play with words in unusual and artistic ways in order to best paint the poem’s meaning. For example, “summer grass aches and whispers” cleverly uses personification to create imagery in the reader’s mind.
Classroom Integration: The poetry in this book is captivating, and would be a wonderful source for a Read Aloud, especially if it were raining. Students could easily use this as a mentor text to create their own poetry in differing forms, or borrow the idea of focusing on a particular theme for a number of different but related poems.
Other Suggestions: I would suggest this book as being appropriate for readers in approximately late third grade, but it could be used for both younger and older children with modifications. As an additional idea for integration in the classroom, a teacher could use this as part of a lesson focused on verbiage, similes, metaphors, personification, and other clever word strategies to enhance writing.
Characteristics That Support the Genre: While each passage included within this text does portray meaning, the book lacks traditional characters or plot. It is primarily focused on using evocative and aesthetic language to evoke feelings and imagery. Thus, this would be exclusively considered a poetry text.
Mentor Writing Traits: (1) Idea – Collecting or writing poetry to evoke feelings about one topic, in this case rain and the seasons, is a captivating idea for a text. (2) Sentence Fluency – The rhythm of each poem and the flow of the text make for a very pleasant, easy read. (3) Word Choice – Most of the poems play with words in unusual and artistic ways in order to best paint the poem’s meaning. For example, “summer grass aches and whispers” cleverly uses personification to create imagery in the reader’s mind.
Classroom Integration: The poetry in this book is captivating, and would be a wonderful source for a Read Aloud, especially if it were raining. Students could easily use this as a mentor text to create their own poetry in differing forms, or borrow the idea of focusing on a particular theme for a number of different but related poems.
Other Suggestions: I would suggest this book as being appropriate for readers in approximately late third grade, but it could be used for both younger and older children with modifications. As an additional idea for integration in the classroom, a teacher could use this as part of a lesson focused on verbiage, similes, metaphors, personification, and other clever word strategies to enhance writing.
December 26, 2013
Rain is brought to the forefront as a subject to revel and appreciate in Rita Gray’s and Ryan O’Rourke’s serene, yet vibrant One Big Rain. This thoughtful compilation of poems reflects the many moods rain brings. Blending in haikus with contemporary poetry, the author and illustrator demonstrate rain is more than wet stuff that falls from the sky. Taking the reader through the various seasons, the poems begin with autumn moving quietly into winter then celebrating spring and frolicking into summer. Diverse and fun, this little book of rain poems suits any time of year. Look for well-known poets such as Robert Frost, Eve Merriam, and Carl Sandburg among translated haiku gems and other poets.
Gray makes no apologies for rain and instead glowingly writes of its attributes in her introduction. Using words like shower, drizzle, sprinkle, and mist, the author extols how rain helps the seasons to flourish. Gray celebrates rain throughout her collection of traditional and contemporary poetry forms. The juxtaposition of haiku and translated poetry amongst the more familiar poetry styles will introduce young readers to the variety of poetic expression found throughout the world. Of note are the richly subdued illustrations of Ryan O’Rourke. The playful quality definitely adds to the poetry, making this a charming collaborative effort.
Gray makes no apologies for rain and instead glowingly writes of its attributes in her introduction. Using words like shower, drizzle, sprinkle, and mist, the author extols how rain helps the seasons to flourish. Gray celebrates rain throughout her collection of traditional and contemporary poetry forms. The juxtaposition of haiku and translated poetry amongst the more familiar poetry styles will introduce young readers to the variety of poetic expression found throughout the world. Of note are the richly subdued illustrations of Ryan O’Rourke. The playful quality definitely adds to the poetry, making this a charming collaborative effort.
November 24, 2012
Celebrate rain throughout the seasons in this fun loving collection of poems compiled from several poets. Autumn rains drop on colorful leaves. Winter rains bring snow and sleet. Spring rains bring new life and puddles for splashing. Summer rains rumble with thunder and display lightening shows. Throughout the year rain evolves and changes making this book functional for every season. In the classroom you could read poems on rainy days from this book within whatever season you are currently in. Kids would love hearing poems about rain especially on such gloomy days. I also loved the simple but every changing artwork in this book. Every poem has a small drawing to go with it making every poem visually appealing. I love this themed, simple poetry book!
February 19, 2013
Being both a fan of poems and rain, I couldn't resist the combination of the two put together in one book. Were they the best poems I've ever read? Not really. But it was entertaining nonetheless, if not at times a little too simplistic. I think it's accessible enough for kids and adults to read, however, and that was probably the main goal of this particular compilation. The illustrations were nice as well, but I found at times they were almost non-existent little clippings rather than whole pages worth of art. All in all, it's a quick read, and while most of the poems are brief, there's a certain cleverness to them that you'll find that deciphering their true meaning will make up for the brevity.
October 11, 2010
I happen to enjoy the occasional rainy day, so this books was calling to me from the library shelf. Broken into 4 sections, by seasons, there is a lovely collection of poems of various types by a number of authors. There is a focus on haiku, but a nice variety overall. Ryan O'Rourke's oil paintings beautifully illustrate the poems and give a feel for the season. Colors tend to be dark and earthy, but every page's illustrations highlight one feature with vibrant color. Note about Haiku translations in the front matter also gives advice to aspiring writers. A beautiful collection not to be set aside for a rainy day, but to celebrate nature's gifts every day.
April 19, 2011
gr. 1-5
A small book of poetry with engaging illustrations. I was looking for a cold, rainy, spring poem, however, this is the poem I wanted to remember today: "Summer Grass" - Carl Sandburg: Summer grass aches and whispers. / It wants something; it calls and sings; it pours out wishes to the overhead stars. / The rain hears; the rain answers; the rain is slow coming; the rain wets the face of the grass.
Oh, I just love that - the rain wets the face of the grass.
So this is a collection of poems, illrated in a stylish, whimsical way. Great fun.
A small book of poetry with engaging illustrations. I was looking for a cold, rainy, spring poem, however, this is the poem I wanted to remember today: "Summer Grass" - Carl Sandburg: Summer grass aches and whispers. / It wants something; it calls and sings; it pours out wishes to the overhead stars. / The rain hears; the rain answers; the rain is slow coming; the rain wets the face of the grass.
Oh, I just love that - the rain wets the face of the grass.
So this is a collection of poems, illrated in a stylish, whimsical way. Great fun.
August 6, 2013
Poems: 2 stars: just okay
Illustrations: 5 stars: loved them!
Overall: 3 stars
I liked this book okay, but I liked the illustrations much more than the poems. I'm not a great fan of poetry; if it doesn't rhyme, I'm sadly lost.
I liked the idea behind this collection more than the collection itself. The poems may or may not be great; I can't tell. But the illustrations are wonderful.
Illustrations: 5 stars: loved them!
Overall: 3 stars
I liked this book okay, but I liked the illustrations much more than the poems. I'm not a great fan of poetry; if it doesn't rhyme, I'm sadly lost.
I liked the idea behind this collection more than the collection itself. The poems may or may not be great; I can't tell. But the illustrations are wonderful.
June 10, 2014
This collection of poems about rain would make a perfect rainy day read aloud. The book contains poems about rain from all the different seasons. Students could compare and contrast the difference in tone between all the poems and also pick out the word choices that convey these tones. I think this book would be a good mentor text to use in order to help students write their own poems about rain, or other forms of weather.
June 6, 2016
This poem book has a lot of different types of styles and forms of poems. These poems are all about rain. The media is watercolor and ink and the pages are full of colors and pictures that really remind you of rain. The book is broken into the four different seasons. They provide rain with a more meaningful meaning then it just being rain. This could teach children about poems and significant meanings.
February 2, 2011
I'd really like to give this 2.5 stars. The poems were so so. O'Rourke's pictures were fantastic, particularly the full spreads for Summer Grass by Carl Sanburg and To The Thawing Wind by Robert Frost. I have a feeling this book would be best for introducing young readers (2nd or 3rd grade perhaps?) to haiku and poetry in general.
August 6, 2010
This short volume packs a lot of punch into a little package. Organized by seasons, the entire book is about...you guessed it, rain. I can envision unpacking some of them piece by piece with my classes so they can admire the work of such notable writers as Carl Sandburg, Eve Merriam and Lilian Moore.
November 25, 2010
This book wasn’t anything special. I didn’t like any of the poems much, but maybe it’s because I prefer the darker side to poetry instead of this light airy stuff. I think younger kids might like this more. The book wasn’t horrible just not my kind of thing. The illustrations are pretty awesome in this book though.
April 26, 2010
This tiny volume is a jewel. Editor Rita Gray collects poems about rain, organized season by season, from revered poets like Carl Sandburg, Eve Merriam, and Robert Frost. Ryan O'Rourke's illustrations remind me of Edward Gorey's-- with a dark color palette and whimsical tone.
January 4, 2011
Nice mix of illustrations, shapely and contemporary to fit the mix of poems, which includes a large dollap of haiku. Liked especially "Weather Report" (Lilian Moore) - "Ice-bearing trees,/a glass/orchard,/blinking/sunwinking....A noonwind will/pass,/harvesting the brittle crop,/crashing/clinking."
September 16, 2011
A nice little collection of rain-inspired poetry charmingly illustrated by Ryan O'Rourke. His art has lovely textures, a subdued palette and a style with a bit of a nod to the Golden Book anthologies of yore.
October 18, 2012
Maybe more like a 3.5. I was surprised how much a did enjoy this little book of poems. Rain poems organized around seasons. Haiku and other forms...some translated from other languages. Really enjoyed the illustrations as well. Nicely done!
January 20, 2011
Lovely poems and even lovelier illustraions.
July 26, 2011
We enjoyed these poems and especially the illustrations... both capture the different rains through winter into spring through the pages of the book.
March 19, 2012
Obviously a poem book. Many many different types of poems. Lots of relatable stuff for students. Can lead to writing about personal poems, about rainy or sunny days. Really fun book&stories.
July 26, 2012
Random poetry for the Summer rains...
June 27, 2015
It was fine - I'm just not a fan of poetry.
November 21, 2021
A collection of poems all about the different types of rain in the four seasons.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews