Rainy Day Reading

Rainstorms are part of summer. Sometimes they are gentle, pattering drops on the leaves and roof. Other times thunder crashes, lightning flashes, hail bounces. Here are a couple of books to read on a stormy day - one new, one old.

Safe in a Storm
by Steve Swinburne; illus. by Jennifer A. Bell
32 pages; ages 3-5
Cartwheel Books (Scholastic), 2016

This is a fun and imaginative good night story that is perfect for a rainy night. It features animal characters that comfort their young ones during a storm.

When the storm rumbles loudly and the sky turns to ink,
Snuggle close, my little mole. Touch noses, warm and pink.

Each spread features a different animal - duck, wolf, sloth - and each illustrated in their natural habitat. The other cool thing is that the storm becomes more intense as you move through the book, then fades as you reach the end. The last spread features a collie comforting her pup. Review copy provided by publisher.

When the Rain Falls
by Melissa Stewart; illus by Constance R. Bergum
32 pages; ages 4 - 8
Peachtree Publishers, 2008

Inside clouds, water droplets budge and bump, crash and clump. The drops grow larger and larger, heavier and heavier until they fall to the earth.

When it rains, most people run inside and wait for the storm to end. But where do the animals go? Melissa Stewart shows how birds stay dry, where mama fox and her kits take cover, and what bumblebees do when they're caught in a shower. She reveals the rainy day secrets of animals that live in forest and field, in luscious and lyrical language. From my bookshelf.