Rain
by Cynthia Rylant; illus. by Lisa Congdon
Preschool    Beach Lane/Simon    48 pp.
4/23    9781442465091    $18.99
e-book ed.  9781442465107    $10.99

Beginning on endpapers featuring a garden lush with brightly colored flowers in brown soil, this picture book celebrates the benefits of rain. We see the garden again as part of the first spread, which offers a wider view that includes a house, a glass greenhouse, a park with a pond, and a creek. The gray-blue sky turns more gray as the birds and squirrels hear the message, “Hurry home, friends. / Hurry home.” Children in bright boots, umbrellas, and raincoats know the rain is coming: “They watched as the sky changed / and the sun folded itself / into a cloud bed / while everything went gray.” Gentle text checks in on the cats; the dogs; and the ducks, who like the rain best of all, promising their babies “a glorious day.” A double-page spread shows blue raindrops falling on white pages, with the simple message “Wonderful, free rain,” and Rylant enumerates the ways the various creatures benefit from rain. Poetic text and cheery folk art–like digital illustrations invite young children to look forward to rain and all of the good things it brings.

From the March/April 2023 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.