"The Rain Came Down"

The Rain Came Down

Written and illustrated by: David Shannon

Published by: The Blue Sky Press in NY in 2000

ISBN: 0-439-05021-9

Genre(s): Picture Book, Realistic Fiction

Reading Level: Grade 2

Activity Level: Grades K, 3 (Really, this book could be used for all elementary grade levels.)

Summary: This book details the occurrences in one town on a rainy day. At first the chickens go crazy and irritates the cat, which annoys the dog and the father yells at the dog, which awakens the baby and upsets the mother. Then, a policeman comes to see what is happening at the house and blocks traffic with his car. After that a lady in a cab becomes upset because she is afraid she will miss her plane and the truck driver in front of him becomes annoyed with the cab driver’s horn. The ice cream man turns up his music to drown (no pun intended) the noise and the hairdresser and barber begin to argue while the painter is climbing down, which causes him to his the barber in the head. Then the baker hits the pizza man with his umbrella, the little boy splashes the little girl with water, the grocery waiting on the delivery truck knocks the boxes from a shopper’s hand, which upsets his fruit basket (also, no pun intended). After that, the RAIN STOPS and everyone is gleeful again and helps one another. The story continues and chronicles the other delightful happenings of the day and shows how each character’s day was made better by another.

Response: I really enjoyed this story because it is very truthful as to what kinds of moods people often have when it rains and how everything seems more complex. However, it also shows how we really should all try to get along with one another, not matter our situation becaue we would all be happier.

I love David Shannon’s illustrations! He draws amazing faces that look, although sometimes stereotypically, like the characters in his book. The hairdresser is dressed like one would stereotypically think of one dressing and the cab driver is wearing his yellow taxi hat, etc. Nearly every page of this book is a double-page spread of beautiful illustrations with vibrant colors in amazing detail. The illustrations are vital to the book and the words are placed on a white background under all of the illustrations.

Teaching Connections: I think this book could be read to almost any grade level class. A teacher could read this to her first grade class if many of them were stuggling with a new math concept to help them realize that it is difficult, but that they will get it soon and everything will be better.

A third grade teacher could also read this to her class as an introduction to metaphors. She could ask them what they rain is a metaphor for and her class could have a discussion about that.

Really, I believe that this book could be read to any elementary school class, especially if something major has happened to affect the entire class or school, such as after 9/11 or if, as happened to a class in my elementary school, their teacher passed away. This book could serve as a way to lighten the tension and help students realize (maybe a week or so after this had happened, not directly after) that things will get better, just as the situation in the story did.

What Students Learn: From this book students learn that even though things might not be so wonderful right now, that they will get better soon. They learn that arguing, etc. is not beneficial to them and that what they really need to do is be patient and wait “for the rain to stop” so that times will get better.

From these activities students can learn the above lessons as well as about metaphors in their writing because this book serves as a great example of such.

Image Retrieved From: http://parentschoice.org/product_img/raincamedown.jpg