RAINDROPS FALL ALL AROUND

Spring rains fall on a variety of happy animals in this rhyming board book.

Rhyming text that doesn't mesh with the pictures makes this a disappointing outing. Mostly the rhymes work but sometimes at the expense of scansion: some lines have seven syllables and some have eight, so the rhythm doesn’t always flow. The presentation of ideas seems mostly to be made in service of the rhyming couplets rather than meaningful internal relationships. For example, with “A flowing creek fills up with rain / Rain seeps down into the drain,” the juxtaposition of a creek and a drain simply does not make sense. More significantly, the rhyming text is mismatched with the greeting-card illustrations. Individually, the illustrations are cute, but there is no continuity. The pictures that work best parallel the text, but when an animal is not specifically named, the choices seem arbitrary if not downright peculiar: the smiling, rain-soaked cats seem especially unlikely. This book and its companion titles (Hail to Spring, Sunshine Brightens Springtime, and A Windy Day in Spring) are certainly cheerful, but they are also forgettable.

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