Rain!
by Linda Ashman
Illustrated by Christian Robinson
Published by Houghton Mifflin Books for Children (March 5, 2013)
Ages 4-7

My Rating: 4 Stars

Review:
On a rainy morning in the city, a young boy’s excitement and an old man’s grumpiness go head to head in Linda Ashman’s Rain!, illustrated by Christian Robinson.

Rain! is about the power of attitude and its contagiousness. To the old man, the rain is misery – the reason he has to put on galoshes and an overcoat to go get his cup of black coffee. To the young boy, it is an opportunity to pretend he is a frog – the reason he gets to jump in puddles on the way to get his hot cocoa and cookies.

The two characters’ journeys to the Rain or Shine Cafe show us how each affects the people they come in contact with. When they finally meet each other, the fireworks fly. The old man turns his grumpiness on the boy, who is simply trying to do a kindness for him. When the boy turns grumpy in front of the old man’s eyes, he sees what he has done. Rather than letting his grumpiness influence the boy, he opens up and lets the boy’s cheerfulness change him instead.

Christian Robinson’s colorful illustrations shine, providing a glimpse of how every one of us can both sway others with our mood and be swayed in return.

An accessible, fun-to-look-at introduction to the power of attitude!

Other work from prolific children’s book author Linda Ashman:

Recent work by Christian Robinson:

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