Big Rain Coming [Hardcover]

Katrina Germein (Author), Bronwyn Bancroft (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: K and up

As one dry day follows another in the Australian outback, everyone and everything is waiting for the rain, which seems as though it will never come. Rosie’s kids, the panting dogs, the fat green frogs, and Old Stephen all do what they can to keep cool as they watch for storm clouds on the horizon. Stunningly beautiful full-color artwork and spare text evoke the long wait during the dry season, and the jubilant relief when the long-promised rain finally arrives. Any child can identify with the theme of how hard it is to wait for something you want, and the outsize, brilliantly colored, stylized illustrations—which feature imagery from Aboriginal mythology—make this an especially striking picture book that will captivate and delight young readers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This well-crafted picture book from an Australian team brings the dry and dusty reaches of the outback straight to American readers. On Sunday, Old Stephen, a white-bearded Aborigine, predicts rain, but it takes all week to arrive. With each day that passes, anticipation builds like the dark clouds on the horizon and everyone struggles to keep cool. On Monday, "The night was so warm Rosie's kids dragged their beds outside to maybe feel some breeze while they slept"; on Tuesday, dogs dig holes for shelter from the heat; and so on. Finally, on Saturday, it happensA"wonderful cool wet RAIN." A minimum of text per spread emulates the patient waiting of the people and animals in Bancroft's intricately patterned illustrations. She represents the earth with stylized swirls of brown and black and creates the billabong from a patchwork of limpid purples and greens. People appear as black silhouettes clothed in bright polka dots and stripes; lizards scamper across the foreground, and in the sky, the sun is an ever-changing orb of concentric circles and dots. Through it all runs the unifying motif of the Rainbow Serpent, an aboriginal symbol of creation closely associated with water and life, flowing in a ribbon of abstract design across the bottom of nearly every page. This evocative picture book saturates the senses as surely as rain does the parched earth. Ages 4-8. (July)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-The rainbow serpent, an aboriginal symbol of creation in the dreamtime, winds his way across the bottom of the pages in this picture book first published in Australia. When Old Stephen sees the dark clouds spreading in the south, he knows there is a big rain coming. Each weekday passes, however, and the weather remains hot and dry. Readers are introduced to Rosie's kids, the dogs at Roberta's place, children swimming in the billabong-but still there is no rain. On Friday, thick gray clouds echo with thunder. Finally, on Saturday-"Wonderful cool wet RAIN" begins to fall. Using aboriginal motifs and bold graphics, Bancroft utilizes rich colors and thick black lines to good effect. The text is well paced with a perfect rhythm for reading aloud, and the large, clean double-page spreads make for easy viewing.
Doris Gebel, Northport-East Northport Public Library, NY
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Clarion Books (September 26, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618083448
• ISBN-13: 978-0618083442
• Product Dimensions: 12.2 x 9.3 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #707,822 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

www.katrinagermein.com Australian children's author Katrina Germein writes picture books that delight primary school children, preschoolers and adults alike. Her stories have won Notable Book Commendations from the Children's Book Council and 'Big Rain Coming' has been published around the world, remaining in print over a decade after its release. Katrina's book 'Baby Gets Dressed' was selected as a Little Big Book Club reading pack title and 'My Dad Thinks He's Funny' was reprinted within a month of its launch. Katrina's sixth trade title is contracted to Walker Books. Katrina lives in Adelaide with her husband,their three children and an old dog named Sunny.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lyrical Simplicity in Big Rain Coming, September 18, 2003

By 

Rosemary Sullivan (Katherine, NT, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Rain Coming (Hardcover)

Big Rain Coming is the kind of picture book teachers dream about. It deals with a culture and situation unfamiliar to most of us, but these are revealed as natural background, natural characters, natural situations. The one thing Big Rain Coming does not reek of is the 'shove it down your throat' cross-cultural drudge that is found in far too many books written for young children.
Big Rain Coming tells a beautiful story with incredible lyrical simplicity.
As an author, simplicity is the hardest of all to master. Germein has done it beautifully here.
The location, the characters are wonderfully authentic and I know, because I've lived and worked in such places too.
Big Rain Coming is a wonderful book to use when teaching because all children can relate to the feeling of waiting for rain, yet they can compare many aspects of the people's lives to their own and see huge differences as well as the many similarities.
The artwork is beautiful, although I'm not a great fan of Bronwyn Bancroft's work. It is unfortunate that because she is a well-known artist, much of the acclaim for the book has been directed towards the illustrator, and not the author who created this brilliant piece of literature.
It doesn't get any better than this.