Come On, Rain!

"Up and down the block,/ cats pant,/ heat wavers off tar patches in the broiling alleyway./ Miz Grace and Miz Vera bend, tending beds of drooping lupines," as a whole neighborhood waits for rain. The narrator, Tessie, is the first one to see the "clouds rolling in,/ gray clouds, bunched and bulging under a purple sky," and she engineers a joyful rain dance with her three friends, Jackie-Joyce, Liz and Rosemary. The long-sought rain "freckles our feet, glazes our toes./ We turn in circles,/ glistening in our rain skin." According to Hesse's bio on the jacket flap, this text contains her initial exploration of motifs used first in her Newbery Medal-winning novel, Out of the Dust. With poetic and immediate language, she again captures the cleansing experience of rainfall after a long dry spell. In an auspicious debut, Muth's illustrations showcase an impressive range of perspectives, from the opening urban skyline to the subtle indication of the oncoming storm in the ruffling of a curtain to the girls' view looking up at their mothers from where they're dancing in the street. His inventive design sense and use of watercolors--smudges of shadow, glistening sidewalks and foggy city-scapes--are remarkable. This is an impressive tribute to those experiences that leave us "purely soothed,/ fresh as dew,/ turning toward the first sweet rays of the sun." Ages 4-8. (Mar.)

K-Gr 2-It's summer in the city and a three-week drought has made the heat nearly unbearable. Skinny little Tessie whispers her prayer, "Come on, rain!" longing for the shower that will break the heat and bring her mother's parched garden back to life. Seeking relief, the girl asks permission to wear her bathing suit, but an "Absolutely not" from Mamma keeps her looking for something to do. Like a blessing, she spies clouds off in the distance. Knowing that her mother will be easier to convince with help from a friend, Tessie runs off to her pal Jackie-Joyce's. "It's going to rain," she whispers. "Put on your suit and come straight over." Tessie returns home to fix her mother a much-needed iced tea, and with the perfect timing of a well-laid plan, Jackie-Joyce arrives along with the rain. As hoped, Mamma changes her mind about the suit and the girls run off to join two friends for a romp in the deliciously refreshing summer rain. To their daughters' delight, all four ."..barelegged mammas dance down the steps..." and join in a spontaneous dance of relief and celebration. Muth's deceptively simple, muted watercolors capture the stifling city summer heat as well as a young girl's determination to keep it from ruining all her fun. Hesse's poetically crafted, perceptive text skips delightfully along with its own perfect rhythm. Lyrically written and lovingly illustrated, this is one you'll want to share over and over again.-Alicia Eames, New York City Public Schools

Bank Street College Best Children's Books of the Year
* "This is an impressive tribute to those experiences that leave us 'purely soothed, / fresh as dew, / turning toward the first sweet rays of the sun.'" — Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Hesse's language is a quiet, elegant surge." — Kirkus Reviews