Review by Booklist Review
Yee's unassuming picture book evokes the simple joys of an April shower in a wonderfully childlike way. A little girl sits indoors, seemingly trapped in her house by the weather and asking her mother, "Who wants rain?" She finds her own answers after she dons a slicker, a hat, and boots and ventures outdoors. There she discovers that the rain is welcome to many different plants and animals, though not to all. The rhyming text tells the story as naturally as if the rhythm and rhyme just fell into place. On alternate pages, the girl observes the rain in the world around her and asks riddling questions, such as "When it rains, / Who's the first to scat? / I know! Do you? / Mew, mew . . . / It's the cat!" Children who are not usually attracted to quiet picture books will find themselves first drawn in by the guessing game and then rewarded by the entire experience. Fine strokes of color softly define the shapes of characters and settings, visually expressing the many sensory images found in the verse. From a rather sedate child in the first few pictures, the girl gradually changes into an energetic figure actively exploring and discovering how rain transforms her familiar world. Simple and engaging. --Carolyn Phelan Copyright 2007 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
To the child who is stuck indoors at the mercy of Mother Nature, rain doesn't appear to be all that wonderful. But to the imaginative girl at the heart of this tale, it's a source of wonderment and the key to unearthing a soggy world where creatures thrive in wet weather. The delicate phrases of Yee's (Upstairs Mouse, Downstairs Mole) loose, lyric verse recall the pitter patter of raindrops ("Who likes rain?/ Not Papa's old truck./ Who likes rain?/ Quack, quack.... It's a duck!"). But as the girl soon discovers, rain can also command a more demonstrative presence ("Pitty-plip-PLOP, Pitty-pat-SPLAT!/ I can catch raindrops in my hat"). His gorgeously textured colored pencil illustrations build on this liveliness, from the drain spout gushing a torrent of water and leaves, to the girl (in her bright yellow slicker) chasing her wayward umbrella across a field. As she explores the wet world around her, readers too learn that while rain may be a deterrent for some, it serves a purpose for the quacking duck or the frog that frolics in the "muckety-muck." And when the rain finally ceases, the girl finds a way to embrace its remains. This delightful story is the perfect panacea for the rainy-day blues and, in turn, creates its own bright spot. Ages 2-6. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-A young Asian girl muses about an early spring rain and how various animals and things are affected, playing a guessing game with readers and expressing her own delight in puddle jumping. Told in lilting rhyme-"Raindrops falling/Down in spring./Hit the awning,/ping-ping-ping!"-it's a perfect read-aloud for preschoolers and simple enough for beginning readers. Soft, gentle illustrations in acrylics capture the child's joy and make readers almost feel the pelting rain. A lovely choice for spring storytimes.-Sally R. Dow, Ossining Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
(Preschool) Who likes rain? The same little girl from Yee's Tracks in the Snow (rev. 11/03), that's who, here having as much outdoor fun in the spring as she does in the winter. Though she starts off glumly looking out the window at the raindrops, she soon gears up and heads outside, playing a guessing game about who likes rain. The rhyming text (and often the illustrations) provides clues, so young listeners will easily guess the answers: ""Who likes rain? / Not Papa's old truck. / Who likes rain? / Quack, quack... / It's a duck!"" As in the first book, Yee's illustrations are more engaging than the brief text, his soft colored-pencil drawings-full-page and spot art-gently capturing a preschooler's love affair with such mundane items as rain gutters, worms, and umbrellas. The book's final picture shows kids' very favorite thing about rain: puddles for splashing in, preferably barefoot. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Young kids who don't already appreciate rain may change their minds after experiencing this small picture book that exuberantly pours on, in verse, the watery delights of a rainy day in April. Yee's impressionistic paintings and the subtle nature lessons are as gentle and soft as a spring shower. Youngsters will enjoy the onomatopoetic sounds of the rainfall and have fun answering the riddles posed here, too. Who likes rain? Why, a host of creatures, though Yee reminds us that cats, dogs and even "Papa's old truck" can well do without it. Of course, at the end, if children won't have already caught on, it seems as if it's the little girl herein who likes rain the most--with or without her bright raingear. Sweet. (Picture book. 2-6) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
