This is one of my favorite picture books. I remember seeing this for the first time when I was a teenager and thinking this was a pinnacle of children's book illustrating. Since then, that pinnacle has had to evolve into more of a... mesa--there are a lot of illustrators I place on my favorite ever list, so it has to be a stable sort of place or they would all fall off. Even though my favorite ever mesa has enlarged, this book is still firmly planted there.
It is awesome.
There are no words in this book. It starts out with a boy and a girl playing in their garden. To the left you can see a rain cloud approaching. (Drum roll...oh the suspense!)
They start to feel a drizzle.
And then the rain comes down.
Once properly suited up, they head back out to see how the world looks in the rain.
I love all the noticing they do.
And the experimenting.
These particular pages are a favorite of mine. A favorite of my favorite book. It is a basic illustration, but for some reason, it still takes my breath slightly by the beauty of it. I really don't know why. I just love it.
Feeding the ducks. And swans and geese.
Upside down puddle reflections
Running against the wind
Back inside to get warm and cozy again.
I want to be the mother who sits down with her kids after an exploration to see what they thought of it all.
Inside things on a rainy day.
Checking to see if it is still raining.
Night falls on the wet streets.
And during the night, the storm blows away.
The kids wake up and check to see what sort of day it will be.
I like these kids.
And they get up to see their world and sunshine-y and washed clean.
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