Welcome, Rain!
Sheryl McFarlane and Christine Wei
Greystone Kids

Directly addressing the rain, a little girl pays tribute to its wonders – the fresh, happy smell, the muddy puddles it makes for splashing in, and the water it provides for seeds and plants to grow.

Moving indoors she says thank you for the tap water for baths, cooking in and washing up, and for making tea. Having paid tribute, the child then moves on deciding as she watches while hugging her dog reassuringly, that, ‘maybe that’s enough for now, Rain. The creeks and lakes are full and the birds are huddled in our trees …’

As is nature’s way, the rain does stop eventually and fun outdoor activities restart, until that is the hot weather becomes too much to bear. Then again comes a change of tone: ‘We miss you, Rain, … and the trees and flowers that drink you up miss you more than we do.’

Coming full circle, the rain returns and I love how the young narrator curled up in bed says, ‘Good night, Rain. You are a bedtime pitter-patter lullaby playing on the roof. … a drip-drop song of raindrops singing in the trees.’

Christine Wei’s beautifully patterned images and her dense hues bring her landscapes to life in Sheryl McFarlane’s upbeat poetic celebration of what is for many of us, an increasingly unpredictable facet of our lives, the rain.