Rain Rain Rivers [Hardcover]

Uri Shulevitz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1969

It rains! It rains all over town, pattering congenially on windowpanes and rooftops. From indoors, a child watches, listens, and feels a delicious coziness. It rains on the fields, the hills, the ponds. The streams and brooks, the rivers and seas, surge and swell exuberantly. Tomorrow there will be warm mud to play in, and puddles, and in the puddles "pieces of sky." It pours.
This picture book by the winner of the 1969 Caldecott Medal is a lyrical celebration of rain's inspiring effect on Mother Nature--on human nature, too. Its few words and panoramic pictures are buoyant with growth and freshness.

 

Rain Rain Rivers is a 1969 New York Times Book Review Notable Children's Book of the Year and Outstanding Book of the Year.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A child listens to the sound of rain, imagines various places where the rain is falling, and anticipates the plant growth and puddle play that will follow...The pictures all emphasize the nurturing, miraculous, and temporary qualities of a rainfall." --Starred, School Library Journal

 

"Lilting." --Publishers Weekly

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Uri Shulevitz is a Caldecott Medal-winning illustrator and author. He was born in Warsaw, Poland, on February 27, 1935. He began drawing at the age of three and, unlike many children, never stopped. The Warsaw blitz occurred when he was four years old, and the Shulevitz family fled. For eight years they were wanderers, arriving, eventually, in Paris in 1947. There Shulevitz developed an enthusiasm for French comic books, and soon he and a friend started making their own. At thirteen, Shulevitz won first prize in an all-elementary-school drawing competition in Paris's 20th district.

 

In 1949, the family moved to Israel, where Shulevitz worked a variety of jobs: an apprentice at a rubber-stamp shop, a carpenter, and a dog-license clerk at Tel Aviv City Hall. He studied at the Teachers' Institute in Tel Aviv, where he took courses in literature, anatomy, and biology, and also studied at the Art Institute of Tel Aviv. At fifteen, he was the youngest to exhibit in a group drawing show at the Tel Aviv Museum.

 

At 24 he moved to New York City, where he studied painting at Brooklyn Museum Art School and drew illustrations for a publisher of Hebrew books. One day while talking on the telephone, he noticed that his doodles had a fresh and spontaneous look—different from his previous illustrations. This discovery was the beginning of Uri's new approach to his illustrations for The Moon in My Room, his first book, published in 1963. Since then he was written and illustrated many celebrated children’s books. He won the Caldecott Medal for The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, written by Arthur Ransome. He has also earned three Caldecott Honors, for The Treasure, Snow and How I Learned Geography. His other books include One Monday Morning, Dawn, So Sleepy Story, and many others. He also wrote the instructional guide Writing with Pictures: How to Write and Illustrate Children’s Books. He lives in New York City.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux (J) (June 1969)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374361711
• ISBN-13: 978-0374361716
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 9.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,143,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Teacher finds book sweet and charming., July 27, 2003

By 

Matthew McCann "Skylerdragon" (Festus, Missouri) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rain Rain Rivers (Hardcover)

I read this book nearly ten years ago, and have forgotten much of my experience with it. Since it was one of my selections for my Children's Literature Class in college, I do have a completed review.

SUMMARY: Rain patters on the window, rain patters on the roof. Rain patters all over town on the people and in the streets. As rain patters everything a nameless little girl imagines streams streaming, rivers rushing, and the sea swelling to swallow up the sky. Rain falls all around, and one little girl leaps over "pieces of the sky" as she watches the world around her grow.

CRITIQUE: This poetic celebration of rain is an interesting and familiar way to view a grey and gloomy day. Using strong descriptions and watercolor pictures, the author effectively pours emotions and senses over everything throughout the book. Though the book is geared for younger children, readers of all ages will appreciate the book's poetry and art.

ACTIVITY SUGGESTION: Perfect for a rainy day. After reading this book with a young child, especially on a rainy day, provide supplies and guideance in making Watercolor Pieces of the Sky. Cut paper into odd puddle-like shapes before painting. Older children should be encouraged to explore possiblities not mentioned in the book. Since puddles are reflections of life, this may be a good time for them to reflect on something about themselves to include in their painting.