Review by Booklist Review
It's raining, but instead of hunkering down inside, three parents in the same apartment complex take their youngsters out into the drizzle. The adults stand together chatting while the children and a dog run off some of their pent-up energy. Engaging illustrations, created digitally, show the enthusiasm and joy the children--dressed in vivid orange, royal blue, and pink jackets along with colorful boots--feel as they jump in puddles and run amok. Their antics brighten up the dreary, wet day established in the front endpapers, bolstered by sound effects sprinkled throughout the text, such as "Stimp, stamp, stomp" and "Splish, splash, splosh," giving onomatopoeic voice to the movements in the gleeful pictures. It's the children with their muddy jackets and waterlogged boots who finally decide, "Let's go in!" The large print and few words per page make this title a great selection for beginning readers. Readers will get a kick out of watching, and perhaps envying, the children acting like children and getting wet and muddy to their hearts' desire.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Three families with young children, portrayed with various skin tones, look out their windows as rain begins to fall in this picture book; it's time to go "puddling." Adult caregivers help the preschoolers into raincoats and boots so they can splash in puddles together at a nearby playground. While the grown-ups talk under umbrellas, the children hug, jump, and laugh. Perry (This Book Has Alpacas and Bears) writes simple, telegraphic lines full of noise and action: "Stimp,/ stamp,/ stomp!// Umbrellas fly,/ coats flap." External rain-day events add to the experience: a dog shakes itself off, and a drenched cyclist pedals by, creating a "SPLAAASH!" In digital artwork with a watercolor feel, Alexander (The Think-Ups) pays attention to the dramatic sloshes and sprays the children make, until a "humongous" puddle soaks boots, and it's time to go in. Rather than wishing the rain away, these young protagonists find that outside amid the elements is a fine place to play, especially when accompanied by clothes that keep them dry, despite the downpour. It's a child-led adventure with a community focus that ends with everyone warm and dry: "Let's all.../ SNUGGLE!" Ages 2--5. (Apr.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Rainy days equal fun! It's raining, it's pouring. What better time for doting parents, neighbors in an apartment building, to take their kids outside? Suiting up their toddlers and infant appropriately in brightly hued rain gear and galoshes, they step outdoors and, with the babe in a stroller, watch their children gleefully greet each other and take off. There are PUDDLES to jump in! Even a pet dog gets involved. This book delivers frolicking tots gamboling in said puddles--there's mud, too--and offers up examples of delicious onomatopoeic words readers and listeners will delight in repeating as they mimic the kids' activities. (Savvy grown-ups will provide children opportunities to display their puddle-jumping prowess.) A few from the text to savor that simply drip with squishy "wet" sounds are set in oversized type, e.g., "Squish! Squash! Squelch!" When the puddle jumpers are thoroughly soggy, it's time to return home, remove wet togs, and have a snuggle. Then, to top off the day, just when you thought nature couldn't produce a better show, a gorgeous multicolored arc appears in the sky. This exuberant British import, written in staccatolike prose emulating the rapid patter of raindrops, is a rainy-day winner. The colorful, energetic digital illustrations appropriately resemble watercolors. One of the families is brown-skinned, another is White-presenting, and the other includes a tan-skinned parent and lighter-skinned child. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Jump right into this joyful charmer. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
