Through the Looking Glass Children's Book Reviews
One Big Rain: Poems for Rainy Days
Illustrator: Ryan O'Rooke
Poetry Picture Book
For ages 6 to 9
Charlesbridge Publishing, 2010 ISBN: 978-1570917165
Depending on the season, rain either gives us some welcome relief, or we consider it a nuisance. Depending on our mood we enjoy paddling in puddles outside or we delight in staying indoors, cozy and warm while the raindrops tap on the windows.
In this lovely book, gem-like poems are paired with lovely evocative illustrations to take us through the seasons, celebrating rain in all its forms as we go. We begin in autumn when “the falling leaves / fall in layers…the rain / beats on rain.” In her poem The Mist and All, Dixie Willson tells us how much she enjoys fall’s mist, the “wailing sound / Of wind around,” and the rain. She is content to be tending to and sitting by her “cozy fire.”
In winter, the rain perhaps takes on a different feel. It is colder and greyer. In Haiku by Sora we read about “a pitter-patter / of winter rain” on a pond that is covered with the reflection of stars. Robert Frost’s poem To the Thawing Wind introduces us to Southwester, a wind that brings the thaw with rain and warmer temperatures that melt the icicles, make the doors rattle, and “Turn the poet out of the door.”
We then move on to the gentle rains of spring that bring life with them, and the welcome showers of summer that freshen the air and offer some respite from the heat and dust.
With a wonderful introduction, and a note about the haiku form, this collection of poems beautifully captures special rainy moments.
