The Rain Came Down

My sister, who is a second grade teacher, originally bought this book for my son - now 2 1/2. He LOVES this book! He loved it when he got it months ago and still loves it today. It has a lot of things going on that allow questions and observations. Plus it has a great underlying theme of being crabby when it is raining and seeing the world in a whole new light when the sun comes out. We've bought this for many of our friends kids as gifts because we love it so much.

My grandchildren (3 and 5) and I really enjoy this book. The story is subtle, and yet I feel sure they can reference back to this concept of 'grumpy on rainy days, suddenly smiling when the sun comes out' as they grow older. The illustrations are superb - they do hark back to an earlier time - which is why I love the book.

This book is just another to add to our wonderful collection of David Shannon's books. The book is beautifully illustrated and carries you through the grumpy side of a rainy day to the happy side of having the sun come out. My son enjoyed this book enormously as he does with all of Mr. Shannon's works. I highly recommend it.

To start a book review by raving about the beautiful art is unusual, but the illustrations in this book are fantastic. My kids were captivated by the pictures and wanted to know who would be affected by the rain next. The kids are 3 and 2 and I was amazed that even the 2 year old waited for the page to be turned and never left my lap. I was very impressed by the book and thankfully, so were the kids!

The Rain Came Down...which made the chickens squawk, then the cat yowled and the dog barked. A man yelled at the dog and woke his sleeping baby. His wife heard the baby crying and shouted to her husband to "stop all that yelling". A policeman hearing the yelling, stops his car in the middle of the street to investigate which causes a cab driver to start honking, which makes the ice-cream man turn up the music in his truck. A painter accidently hits a barber with a falling paint can, a baker pokes the pizza man with his umbrella, a boy chasing his toy boat down a streaming gutter, splashes a little girl and there's arguing, crying, honking and yelling up and down the street.....Until the rain suddenly stops and so does the noise. The sun comes out, the air smells fresh and clean and a rainbow appears. Slowly, everyone calms down and helps each other straighten out the mess and get back to what they were doing before the shower. David Shannon's book about the chaos that occurs because of an unexpected rain storm is a wonderful chain of events story that will delight and amuse youngsters of all ages. His vibrant and very expressive illustrations become busier and more detailed with each addition to the unfortunate happenings this storm causes, until they almost spill off the page. This is a terrific picture book that will have your youngsters entranced and giggling every time it's read!