The Rain Came Down [Hardcover]

David Shannon (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

An unexpected rain shower causes quarreling among the members of a small community.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

"On Saturday morning, the rain came down. It made the chickens squawk." But that's only the beginning. Before the sun comes out again, an entire neighborhood is in a crabby uproar. The owner of the beauty parlor squabbles with the barber, who argues with the painter, who has just accidentally bonked the barber in the head with his paint can. Then the baker unintentionally pokes the pizza man in the nose with his umbrella, and they start quarreling. Soon, "the whole block was honking, yelling, bickering, and barking." There's no end in sight... until the rain stops, the sun comes out, the air smells fresh and sweet, and a rainbow appears. Before they know it, the bickerers are helping each other clean up the mess caused by the ruckus, and everyone's smiling again.

David Shannon, Caldecott Honor artist of No, David!, brings his own brand of sunshine to readers. His rollicking text and bright, witty caricatures of grumpy neighbors and animals will put a smile on every reader's face, rain or shine. Surprising angles (we see the painter's paint-spattered bottom from below as he descends his ladder) may even make gloomy readers laugh out loud! This book is perfect for brightening a dreary gray day. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter

From Publishers Weekly

Raindrops set off a chain reaction of temper tantrums, but a sudden break in the clouds makes the bad moods melt. A series of isolated vignettes begins with a noisy, muddy dog that aggravates its owner, so "the man yelled at the dog and woke up the baby.... The dog barked louder. And still, the rain came down." Outside, a taxi driver beeps at a stopped truck, and in the next frame, the truck driver argues back. One by one, shop owners collide with pedestrians as tension accumulates, all to the refrain, "And still, the rain came down." After this series of intense close-ups, Shannon (No, David!) gives a bird's-eye view of the whole scene: small-town storefronts, bumper-to-bumper traffic and irritable people. But in the next spread, he swings down to street level and captures the moment that "the rain stopped! And so did the noise." The sunshine changes everything, and a second sequence of highly detailed paintings revisits each of the now-cooperative characters. Shannon expertly uses vertiginous angles as he builds suspense, then calms things down with a set of subdued portraits and a view of a quiet afternoon picnic. However, unlike Charlotte Zolotow's similarly conceived The Quarreling Book, which took a child's point of view, here the action is primarily among adults and may not hold readers' attention for repeated readings. Ages 3-up. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Blue Sky Press; 1ST edition (October 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439050219
• ISBN-13: 978-0439050210
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #70,658 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #43 in Books > Children's Books > Science, Nature & How It Works > Nature > Weather

More About the Author

DAVID SHANNON is the illustrator of many successful picture books, including How I Became a Pirate. His numerous awards include a Caldecott Honor for No, David! He lives in Burbank, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shannon' art a delight, October 8, 2000

By 

Edward M. Thron (Green Bay, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rain Came Down (Hardcover)

The energy and excitement in Shannon's art brings a simple thunderstorm day to life. A very different book than his No, David! Series with one exception-the wit of the illustrations and the rendering of true emotions of anger, surprise, elation and affection. The words are straightforward, the colors bright, primary and active. As usual, Shannon's rendering of eyes and mouths, our two most expressive features, delight and amaze. Highly recommended for reading to small groups who can gather around and participate in the color, art and emotions of the characters. (Preschool, certainly, but for older readers to capture emotion in art).

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars When it rains, it pours!, October 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Rain Came Down (Hardcover)

To start a book review by raving about the beautiful art is unusual, but the illustrations in this book are fantastic. My kids were captivated by the pictures and wanted to know who would be affected by the rain next. The kids are 3 and 2 and I was amazed that even the 2 year old waited for the page to be turned and never left my lap. I was very impressed by the book and thankfully, so were the kids!

17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful!, December 2, 2000

By 

Roz Levine - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Rain Came Down (Hardcover)

The Rain Came Down...which made the chickens squawk, then the cat yowled and the dog barked. A man yelled at the dog and woke his sleeping baby. His wife heard the baby crying and shouted to her husband to "stop all that yelling". A policeman hearing the yelling, stops his car in the middle of the street to investigate which causes a cab driver to start honking, which makes the ice-cream man turn up the music in his truck. A painter accidently hits a barber with a falling paint can, a baker pokes the pizza man with his umbrella, a boy chasing his toy boat down a streaming gutter, splashes a little girl and there's arguing, crying, honking and yelling up and down the street.....Until the rain suddenly stops and so does the noise. The sun comes out, the air smells fresh and clean and a rainbow appears. Slowly, everyone calms down and helps each other straighten out the mess and get back to what they were doing before the shower. David Shannon's book about the chaos that occurs because of an unexpected rain storm is a wonderful chain of events story that will delight and amuse youngsters of all ages. His vibrant and very expressive illustrations become busier and more detailed with each addition to the unfortunate happenings this storm causes, until they almost spill off the page. This is a terrific picture book that will have your youngsters entranced and giggling every time it's read!