Downpour
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
Downpour is the enchanting story of a rainy day turned magical.
A rainy day is usually the time to clomp around in rubber boots and discover worms and puddles and other such rainy day things. But this is no ordinary rainy day. Embark on a journey of discovery as the rain begins to wash away the color from the bright red poppies in a field. Follow the color red on its journey, page after page, as it infuses myriad quirky and everyday objects with its bright cheerful hue: from the beaks of curious birds to the big wheel at the faraway fair.
In a fresh, poetic style, with bright splashes of color on each page, this high contrast book will allow young readers to learn about color and build their vocabulary while stimulating their senses.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Martin debuts with a drifting, picture book length poem that imagines the unusual aftereffects of a rainstorm: "It rained for days until poppies ran./ Their red first ran down stem and leaves./ Then, red, the roots,/ Red, the ground,/ Red, the stones sitting around." In loose-lined ink illustrations against a watery gray backdrop, Shaughnessy (LEGO Man in Space) draws birds with beaks dipped in red, foxes dashing across a field on red paws, and a "sleepy black ram" whose curling horn is the same rich scarlet. All of the animals and humans, including a comely young woman with windswept locks that appears to be the narrator ("Red, the leaves that flutter around./ Red, the schoolbag on my back"), are drawn naturalistically. The sole exception is a recurring hedgehog character, whose cartoon rendering and whimsical actions (stomping around in rain boots, creating a chain of paper butterflies) are somewhat at odds with the contemplative tone of the verse. Still, there's a certain thrill to be had from seeing red in unexpected contexts, whether on a mailbox, dirt road, or school bus. Ages 3 6.
