Big Rain Coming

by Katrina Germein

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0618083448
• ISBN13: 9780618083442
• Release Date: September 2000
• Publisher: Clarion Books
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 12.0" x 9.0"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Lyrical Simplicity in Big Rain Coming

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.