This is the quintessential book about summer rain, especially if you’ve lived in an urban area. The writing is so beautiful and evocative that you could read this in the frosty middle of winter and feel the heat radiate off the sidewalk and the dead air hang heavily around you. In fact, despite this not actually being a poem, I marked the book as poetry based on the language.
As the book opens, a small girl stares at the sky and issues a request, “Come on, rain!” Her mamma is wilting in the heat, but she too knows that rain is near. The girl goes and collects her friends, puts on a bathing suit and runs to meet the coming storm. By the time the rain comes, even the mamas are out in the street.
The heroine is African-American, but her friends are from many different backgrounds, making this a this an actual multicultural offering.
The book and its message are simple enough for little ones, but complex enough for upper elementary students to analyze the vocabulary and word choice used by the author. I love it as a read aloud, whether for little kids or bigger ones.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
