Illustrated by Lauren Stringer. Hartcourt, Inc., San Diego. 2000.
Hardcover edition, 32 pages, ISBN 0-15-213756-4.
"I press my nose against the screen and smell the smell of screen and rain. I listen. I watch." After breathing in the smells, sounds and sights of a rainy day, Ray's young boy retreats to enjoy a variety of indoor activities: drawing, blocks, reading, cars, hiding, tea party. Tired of amusing himself inside, he bursts outside to splash in puddles wearing his red rubber boots. "Red boots. My boots. Red rubber made-for-rain boots." His neighbor, with a touch of eccentricity, stands barefoot on the lawn. "It is a fine thing feeling wet grass on bare feet in green rain." Our boy disagrees, and continues to enjoy "slapping, stirring puddles" in his scarlet footwear until he "wade[s] into blue sky", and the sun has come out.
Stringer has created close-up views of the child's world in full page warm acrylics. The text moves in simple sentences briefly on each page. This is a great book for sharing in a toddler or preschool storytime about weather or rainy days.
