Tuesday Storytime: Rain and Mud

Fun set of books today again!

Waiting Out the Storm
Joann Early Macken, illustrated by Susan Gaber
ISBN: 9780763633783
Sleepy pastel landscapes make for a reassuring and refreshing background for a sweet sentimental storm story.

Mother and daughter are out working in the yard when they are interrupted by an approaching storm, and the book text is the dialogue between the two as the child is anxious or curious about the storm, and mother responds reassuringly and mostly factually.  I appreciate that this book has the duo retreating inside to wait out the storm, as most rain books focus on children headed outside to play in the rain, and not all children (or parents) are comfortable with that scenario - it's very nice to have the other impulse (to nest up and wait out the storm in comfort) recognized and celebrated.

Mud
Mary Lyn Ray, illustrated by Lauren Stringer
ISBN: 19780152024611
Faux-naive blocky dark muddy artwork make the short narrative more stark and powerful.

This one isn't a perfect fit for a rainy-day narrative, because here we have the mud as a direct reaction to the spring thaw (which we really don't even get in South Carolina anyway) but it was so perfect and dirty and muddy and playful that I couldn't resist.  A bit too much time is spent leading up to the mud (in my opinion) but once it shows up, it's a perfect medium for playful but powerful wordplay and dark evocative artwork that draws out the amazing browns and reds and greys in the dirt and mud.  It ends on a sweet note, calling for the spring and the green to arrive.

Raindrop, Plop!
Wendy Cheyette Lewison, illustrated by Pam Paparone
ISBN: 0670059501
Super-cute drawings are bright and lively and colorful, with a cheerful count-up-and-down rhyme.

This was a surprise favorite book out of this set - I expected I would like Waiting Out the Storm more, but the relentless cheerfulness and sprightly rhyme (and the length - perfect for middle or end) makes me really happy to have discovered this one.  This is my first time reading it for storytime, but it feels familiar and comfortable to read and to progress through.  That's a real bonus for anyone reading aloud, and I was delighted at how comfortable and smooth the read was.  Our story is simple; along with a count-up from one to ten, we follow a young girl playing outside in a sprinkle of approaching rain, then with "too many raindrops..." we head back inside the house to count back down through a bath and snack, before heading back outside into the newly revealed sunshine.  Super cute, super easy to read, and super simple.  Absolutely a great storytime read.