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Umbrella
Momo can't wait to use the red boots and umbrella she received on her birthday. All she needs now is a rainy day! Soft illustrations portray a thoughtful story about patience and growing independence.
- GenresChildrensPicture Books
32 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 1977
13 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 2, 2026
Summary: This story follows a young girl named Momo, and on her 3rd birthday, she received a pair of rain boots and an umbrella. She keeps waiting and waiting for rain to come, so she can use her new boots and umbrella. Sadly, it just doesn’t seem like rain is coming, and she keeps asking her mom to use it in the bright sun, or in the wind. Her mother denies that, and so she waits and waits for rain. Finally, her mother wakes her up one day and finds that it is raining! She is overjoyed and puts on her rain boots as quickly as she can, and heads out the door. Her father walks her to school, and she walks in a straight line like a grown up as she goes down the sidewalks. At the end, it says that she grew up, and she doesn’t remember this story at all. She doesn’t remember the first time she used her umbrella as it was so long ago.
Likes/Dislikes: This book was honestly a very simply book. It was a cute story, yet some of the wording just didn’t make sense. The main concept of the story is there, it’s just the way that some of it is worded is hard to understand and read. I also did not like the art style, especially in the pictures containing people. They look honestly scary with the fact that they just have black eyes, and no white to them at all. Other than that, it’s a very basic book.
Classroom Application: I think that this book could be used in a kindergarten classroom. It is such a cute and simple story, that it would be a good short read for kindergartners. A good craft for the kids would be to have them design their own umbrellas or rain boots. Just do a cute coloring sheet and so they can design some umbrellas or rain boots and you can hang them in your classroom for decor!
Likes/Dislikes: This book was honestly a very simply book. It was a cute story, yet some of the wording just didn’t make sense. The main concept of the story is there, it’s just the way that some of it is worded is hard to understand and read. I also did not like the art style, especially in the pictures containing people. They look honestly scary with the fact that they just have black eyes, and no white to them at all. Other than that, it’s a very basic book.
Classroom Application: I think that this book could be used in a kindergarten classroom. It is such a cute and simple story, that it would be a good short read for kindergartners. A good craft for the kids would be to have them design their own umbrellas or rain boots. Just do a cute coloring sheet and so they can design some umbrellas or rain boots and you can hang them in your classroom for decor!
September 27, 2024
“Umbrella” is sweet, but not terribly striking - up until the last two pages. I was falling asleep last night as I read this book, so my memory of it was hazy. I re-read it again just now to remember what it was I liked about this story. And just the same as the first time, page 30’s:
“Momo is a big girl now,
And this is a story
She does not remember at all”
Hit me and made me smile. Umbrella’s sweetness turns bittersweet. Especially as this “grown up” Momo shown on the opposite page is, supposedly, all of eight years old, as the book’s dedication reads:
“To Momo
On her
eighth
birthday”
Something that is such a precious memory to her parents, to her father, enough to write a book about it, is an event that the child herself does not remember at all. This dramatic shift from the perspective of the child to the perspective of the parent / narrator is well done, and makes Umbrella stand apart from many other picture books I have read.
The following and final page reads,
“Does she remember or not,
It was not only the first day in her life
That she used an umbrella,
It was also the first day in her life
That she walked alone,
Without holding either
Her mother’s or her father’s hand”
“Momo is a big girl now,
And this is a story
She does not remember at all”
Hit me and made me smile. Umbrella’s sweetness turns bittersweet. Especially as this “grown up” Momo shown on the opposite page is, supposedly, all of eight years old, as the book’s dedication reads:
“To Momo
On her
eighth
birthday”
Something that is such a precious memory to her parents, to her father, enough to write a book about it, is an event that the child herself does not remember at all. This dramatic shift from the perspective of the child to the perspective of the parent / narrator is well done, and makes Umbrella stand apart from many other picture books I have read.
The following and final page reads,
“Does she remember or not,
It was not only the first day in her life
That she used an umbrella,
It was also the first day in her life
That she walked alone,
Without holding either
Her mother’s or her father’s hand”
April 22, 2025
First sentence: Momo is the name of a little girl who was born in New York. The word Momo means "the peach" in Japan where her father and mother used to live. On her third birthday Momo was given two presents--red rubber boots and an umbrella! They pleased her so much that she even woke up that midnight to take another look at them.
Premise/plot: Momo received two gifts for her third birthday: red rubber boots and an umbrella. She loves, loves, loves her presents and she wants to use them right away! But of course it is not raining! Momo reluctantly waits and waits for the rain to come. One day it does!
Favorite quotes:
On the umbrella, raindrops made a wonderful music she never had heard before--
Bon polo
Bon polo
Ponpolo ponpolo
Ponpolo ponpolo
Bolo bolo ponpolo
Bolo bolo ponpolo
Boto boto ponpolo
Boto boto ponpolo
My thoughts: Whenever I'm asked what my favorite picture book from childhood is, I know exactly how to answer! Umbrella! I love, love, love the rhythm of it. The illustrations are amazing! I think I judge all other books by this one!
Text: 5 out of 5
Illustrations: 5 out of 5
Total: 10 out of 10
August 16, 2024
Simple story of a young girl who gets an umbrella and boots for her birthday and can’t wait for it to rain. I thought the illustrations were only okay, especially for a Caldecott Honor Book (I didn’t like the way most of the faces are blurred or scratched out.)
October 14, 2025
Maybe a little simple, but a precious story about a girl who cannot wait to use her new umbrella.
June 11, 2025
This is a great book to teach toddlers about waiting and a charming story for adults. Frankly, I want to love the pictures but can't stand that many have blurred, featureless faces or blacked out eyes.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews