Tuesday, October 6, 2009

REVIEW: Rainstorm


Lehman, B. (2007). Rainstorm. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.

0618756396

In this wordless picturebook, set during a rainstorm, a young boy is stuck inside. He discovers a hidden key that unlocks a trunk...that leads to a ladder...and on and on until the boy finds himself on the top of a lighthouse, on a clear day, with several other children, ready to have a fun time together.

Rainstorm very much embraces a sense of magic bookended by the ordinary. (Of course, the fact that the boy seems to live in a giant mansion does take away from any sense that the story is ordinary) Young readers should enjoy the sense of discovery, adventure and magic. Teachers will like that it encourages enjoyment and visual literacy.

If children have read Lehman's Caldecott honoree, The Red Book, they'll discover that Rainstorm is in the same enjoyable style, but is just a little less structurally trippy.


Activities:

Rainstorm is a great book to share during a rainstorm, just when children start to complain that they're bored. After reading the book, a teacher or parent could lead children on an imaginary journey or could try to quickly create a scavenger hunt.

As with most wordless picturebooks, Rainstorm can be used to support visual literacy and to encourage students to narrate what they're seeing.

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