Rain Drop Splash

by Alvin. Tresselt

This is a perfect book to give to a restless child on a rainy day - or a happy child on a sunny day. The brief text is poetic in pattern and mood and with the imaginative range and experience of the three to six year old.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Science, Nature, Realistic Fiction, Classics, Kids

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1947

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story from the 40s before the environment became political. This is basically the story of the journey of water as rain from the sky making its way all the way to the Ocean. The art is lovely with 4 colors, blacks, whites, yellows and oranges.

A nice simple story before the world got so technical.

I don't think this had an impact on the kids.

[Hilary · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. The journey of rain making it's way to the ocean. Wonderful illustrations, I love Tresselt's style although this wasn't one of my favourite examples of this author/illustrators work.

Read on open library.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice enough story about how raindrops find their way to the ocean, though I'm guessing kids will find the illustrations rather drab.

[Fjóla · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice little book about water which can be appreciated by even the little ones. The words have nice rhythmic lull to them, and it's a fun little story about the rain water's journey. At one point I was wondering whether the water torrents would turn into full blown devastating floods, because the flooding was already big enough to close roads and stuff, but no worry, this is not a "natural disaster" book. One of the picture spreads is a little confusing though, with what seems to be submerged boats and cars and subway trains beneath the water. The book made me reminisce about Paddle-to-the-Sea, another Caldecott Honor about the cycle of water.

The illustrations are fine, but for a Caldecott, I wasn't really wowed by them, didn't find them remarkably exciting. I thought illustrator Leonard Weisgard did better for instance in The Little Island.

[Maria Rowe · Rating 2 out of 5]

• 1947 Caldecott Honor Book •

This is an interesting book. It follows drops of rain to a series of larger and larger bodies and water - from a puddle to the ocean. The narrative is unique and different and I like that. I’m not terribly fond of the brown and yellow colors. Maybe it was supposed to reflect the dreariness of rain? Or darkness of the skies when it rains? I think he could have used dark blue to get this across. The colors are such a turnoff.

I did enjoy the author’s note where Tresselt describes that his initial version of the story was a mountain stream named Hyacinth that was followed until she came to the sea, and that “this approach would never work.” I liked that honesty and enjoyed hearing about an initial draft of the story.

Materials used: unlisted
Typeface used: unlisted

[Katie Fitzgerald · Rating 5 out of 5]

The color palette Leonard Weisgard uses for this book is just right for the rainy weather the story describes. I like the way even the reds and yellows are muted to reflect the cloudy, drab atmosphere. I also love the way he draws raindrops on the edges of some of the pages to keep reminding the reader that rain is still falling, but that he doesn’t clutter up every page with those little raindrop lines. I also love the illusion of movement created by the positions of the boats near the city docks. I enjoy all of Alvin Tresselt’s books about weather, but this one might be my favorite.

Read at Preschool Story Time on 8/10/12: http://storytimesecrets.blogspot.com/...

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I use it every year to introduce the water cycle in the classroom. Even though it does not cover every aspect of the water cycle, it is a great introduction to rainfall and how it moves from puddles, streams to bigger bodies of water and how animals and people interact with the rain. The book has a older feel and I wasn't sure how my students would interact with the Caldecott Honor book, but they are intrigued with the illustrations and rich language of the story. I have purchased an additional copy for my classroom and it is always in the hands of a student. I love when I can utilize a read aloud to introduce or enrich science concepts.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

1947 Caldecott Honor

[Luisa Knight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in 1947, it was Tresselt’s first children’s book and won a Caldecott Honor Award. So how can you pass it up? It was the start of his creative juices and thank goodness!

Your littles will enjoy the sing-song of descriptive text that describes how little drops of rain can eventually turn into a river and work it’s way to the sea. Paired with one of my favorite illustrators, it’s pure learning goodness.

See which rainy day books our family is enjoying: watch my reel!

Ages: 2 - 7

Content Considerations: two boys are swimming naked - no detail to the drawing.

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[Hannah Melberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was about rain and how it affects all different animals as well as people and the land. The book started off with rain and how it dripped from the leaves and down on a bears back then down the tree trunk. All the droplets of rain then formed a puddle that eventually turned into pond and tiny fish began to swim in it. The pond kept growing and growing and spilled over the brook down the side of the mountain. The deer’s were showing the baby deer’s how to drink out of it. The water then spilled into the lake and a red wing black bird built his nest in the rushes. The water eventually flooded up on land into a farmers land and the cows were standing in it and the children could no longer walk to school they took a boat. At the very end of the story all the rain drops finally made it to the sea. The illustrations in this book were all yellow, brown, black, red, green and white. The colors made the images duller and not so lively which made the mood of the story gloomier. This book would be a good book to use in the classroom when discussing about weather but more specifically about water.

[Helen Kumpel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is for: K-4
Topic: Water/Weather (drops, puddles, lakes, rivers, oceans)
Math activity: Have students count out a certain amount of drops of water from an eye dropper to a cup. Then have the students combine their cubs with those seated at their tables. Then combine two tables of water into one cup and so on. Students will see how their drops when ADDED to others drops makes the amount of water much greater than what they each started out with.
Reflection: I like how this book takes you from a little drop and grows bigger and bigger. Students can use their prior knowledge to connect with this book and make meaning. This book could be used when discussing water as a destructive force, constructive force, bodies of water, etc. Students could also predict what the water will turn into next and allow you to assess their understanding of certain things starting out smaller and getting larger and larger.

[Beverly · Rating 3 out of 5]

While the text is lyrical, simple, and short enough to hold a young child's attention, I have to wonder if the dull, drab, muted illustrations will appeal to today's child, who is used to more color in book illustrations. (They didn't appeal to me.) For instance, on one page, the author mentions that the rain splashed some violets, but there is not even one spot of purple on that page. The colors are mostly dull greens, yellows, reds, and browns. In their favor, the illustrations do reflect what the text is saying.

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

From a little sprinkle in the mountains readers follow the water and rainstorm eventually all the way to the sea.

A simple book to introduce the water cycle, so a good option for young science classes. There's enough repetition younger readers can catch on and help read some pages. There's also enough assonance and consonance in the text, this book could be used when studying those things in language arts.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book won a 1947 Caldecott Honor award. I enjoyed this simple tale of the sounds of rain and how a little can turn into a puddle and eventually make it down to the sea. Great book to read aloud, as the kids can see and hear how the rain effects the animals and people of the story. Recommended for ages 1-6, 4 stars.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice enough story kind of following a rain drop downstream. But also basically pointless in a pretty sort of way. Just because it rains, doesn't mean it floods. But if it floods upstream, you kind of have to deal with that water downstream too. Okay art but a bit more original in subject matter than I expected. Slightly repetitive text.

[Erin · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like how this book shows where the water goes from the sky to the pond to the brook and eventually out to the ocean. Enough confusing things happen in the crack of the book with pictures and text, that I don't like it all that much. I could definitely see how some would like the language and such for storytimes, though.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

A nice quick read. After all the other Caldecott books of the 40's being quite lengthy and full of text, it was nice to have a quick read for a change. Liked the illustrations, but didn't really love them.

[Ahmad Worthy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like this book because it discusses the consistency of rain drops and how people, animals, and other things react to the drip, drop, rainning sound. This story is great to read to 3 year old kids who are interested in learning about puddles, ponds, and water.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book details a heavy rainfall and how the areas around the river are effected. Illustrations are sepia-toned with highlights of red and yellow. The text is big and bold and reads well enough to be an okay read aloud. Great pictures of the animals in and around the river.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This account in verse of the accumulation of water from a rainstorm, both in rural and urban settings, is an imaginative look at the consequences of one drop following another. The font used for the text is unidentified but satisfying and a little larger than usual.

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grown-ups will feel like the illustrations are dated, but this doesn't bother children usually. A simple story of the rain coming down and making its way from puddles to pond to brook to river to....

[Katt Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soft and as gentle as the rainstorm described, we see the waters gather and flow from puddle to river to ocean. While the flooding aspects might be a little worrisome, there is never a sense of danger. And the illustrations are imaginative and reflect perfectly this rainy day. I liked this book.

[SamZ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Favorite Illustration: The page with the pond, water lillies, and snails. I also really liked the title page.
A cute little book about rain and how it flows from a rain drop into the ocean. Just a bit slow and the illustrations weren't my favorite.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book won the Caldecott Honor in 1947. For its time I think it was a lovely book. The illustrations are just okay...the colors are dull, but the drawings are pretty good. The story is a bit alarming, but it all works out in the end.

[Janice · Rating 3 out of 5]

1947 Caldecott Honor Book This is a great book for discussing the water cycle. While it doesn't cover evaporation, it follows rain drops as they fall from a cloud all the way to the ocean.

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lovely pictures.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caldecott Honor Book, 1947

Favorite line: "Dripped from the shiny leaves, dropped from a rabbit's nose, splashed from a brown bear's tail."

Favorite illustration: page 3

[Laura5 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Bud liked the page where they take a boat to school.

The writing had a very nice lilt when read aloud.

[Natalia Ortega-Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Favorite line: "Scared a chipmunk, splashed some violets, passed a mother deer showing her baby how to drink"

[Colby Sharp · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is cool.