During the one year I spent living in San Diego, the lack of winter didn’t bother me, but the lack of rain was really unsettling. As an east coaster, I’d never realized how much I relied on rainy days as an excuse to do quiet things inside and work through blue thoughts. Rather than being a shining respite from the dreary grey springs of Cape Cod, the perpetual sunshine in Southern California seemed an affront to my occasional need to wallow. Wong Herbert Lee’s “Who Likes Rain?” captures the range of feelings we, and other creatures, experience on rainy days–from boredom to contemplation and elation.
The book starts off with a girl looking sadly out of her window at the rain falling on a cherry tree. “Who wants rain?” she asks as she listens to the sound of the rain hitting the windowpanes and awning. We see trees and flowers, ducks and fish, frogs and worms enjoying the showers while cats, old trucks, and the neighbor’s dog take their places inside to stay dry. The girl pokes around outside, catching raindrops in her hat, chasing her umbrella, and observing animals until the rain stops. The story ends with her jumping happily into a puddle.
"Down, down, down come the drops of rain."
"Who likes rain? Not my neighbor's dog."
The text is filled with rainy, rhyming onomatopoeias: “Pit-pit-pit on the windowpane,” and “Pitty-plip-plop, Pitty-pat-SPLAT,” and “On my umbrella rum-a-tum-tum” that pleasantly roll of the tongue. The illustrations are done with Prismacolors on watercolor paper, and they have a lovely, grainy, washed-out texture. The pages are filled with grey streaks of rain falling onto spring green grass and colorful raincoats–again a nice combination of gloomy and cheerful. Zadie loves the rain sounds as well as guessing the answers to questions like “Who likes rain? Croak, croak…” Yee has a website with links to more illustrations and books. I’m especially curious to check out “Tracks in the Snow.”
Tags: 18 months +, animals, nature, rhyming
