Yellow Umbrella

by Jae-Soo Liu, Dong Il Sheen

The perfect book for a rainy day, but also for an art lesson, a lazy afternoon, or a quiet classroom. Accompanied by a CD of original and evocative piano music, this is a book meant to be enjoyed by all people, connecting us through music and art and transcending language and cultural barriers. Readers, "lookers", and listeners of all ages will love this slice of a rainy day.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Music, Art, Fiction

36 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2002

Reviews

[Guilherme Semionato · Rating 3 out of 5]

Aww, so cute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2_s_... (lesser quality but with the original music)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md8zd... (better quality, but with different music)

[Cheryl]

Sorry, I got nothing. I'm not great at wordless books though. I do see that a reference to the author saying, effectively, that the colorful umbrellas anonymized the kids, and all were equal under them. Ok.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finally enjoyed this beautiful book! I knew it won awards at the point of publication--2002--where does the time go?! Today I enjoyed this book with youngsters aged 4. Thinking about the bird's eye view of looking down at the umbrellas was fun! The accompanying CD has a song called "Underneath the Sky" sung in Korean. We imagined: maybe in a class of kids aged 4 in Korea they are reading this book and listening to the song in English!
One of the cool views in the book:
http://www.purplebookcart.com/uploads...

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary

This story is told exclusively through pictures and music about the experience of a rainy day. We see rain light and heavy, umbrellas in a big city, and the quiet after the storm.

Identify the characteristics from the text that support the specific genre

This is a wordless picture book because it has pictures and no words! It comes with a CD of music to accompany each page so perhaps we could call it a musical, wordless picture book. It tells a story but not a historical or magical story so it would be "traditional" in terms of genre.

Identify specific concepts that could be integrated into the classroom.
Feelings; how weather or music makes us feel. The senses (how do we take in information besides though words?) How do we know what this story is about if there are no words?

Provide any other suggestions that would be useful regarding literary content, reading level, and other ways in which the book might be integrated.

It could be a great tool for an integrated art and / or music lesson. Children could experiment with doing their own art and seeing how different music influences what they choose to create. Also good for small-group interactive book making. Children as a group could make a wordless book, choose a theme, choose or create music to set it to. It could be a center activity after exploring this book.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yellow Umbrella is a wordless picture book by Jae-Soo Liu that was first published in Korea. One umbrella becomes many, many umbrellas on a rainy day.

The message of the book, according to the author, is "whether they were boys or girls, fat or skinny, short or tall...under their colorful umbrellas, all those physical differences disappeared...It seemed to me that these children were claiming that they were all equal in spite of their physical differences." Readers can find their own meanings in this wordless book, however.

For me, when I "read" this one, what I get is a sense of JOY. The book seems to capture the love of life, the love of play.

The book includes a CD filled with music. The first track is seven minutes, and this is the intended soundtrack for the book. Track two, "Underneath the Sky," is the only music piece with lyrics included.

Everyone hold up your umbrella
Standing underneath the sky
Everyone -- with your umbrella
Listen to the rain

Tracks three through fifteen are expanded versions of the themes or segments from the main track.

If you enjoy piano music, art, or rainy days, this one is too fun to miss.

Music: 4.5 out of 5
Illustrations: 4.5 out of 5
Total: 9 out of 10

[Judy Lindow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Music is provided for this beautiful book. I used to play it and show the pictures on rainy days to 3-5th graders. It's very moody and dramatic. It's been at least 5 years since I've seen the book. Opening it, I see there's sheet music and words that I don't even remember using.

I loved the illustrations for the bright colors of the umbrellas, how well it conveyed the feeling of rain, and yet how abstract the illustrations are. I like kids to experience the music and visual art together so they can see and hear an example of a creative collaboration (or 2 art forms that compliment each other).

I've checked this book out over the years and it's grown from a book I liked so so to a book I see as more unique and enjoy more than most. This year I keep bringing it in to classes - but oddly enough I end up just putting the music on while i prepare for class by myself. I don't want to return it this time. Maybe I should buy it this time.

[babyhippoface · Rating 5 out of 5]

Small children will enjoy following the yellow umbrella through the beautifully-bright pages, but there is so much more to this book. Pop the accompanying CD in and you have an incredible little experience from Jae Soo Liu and composer Dong Il Sheen, for children and adults alike. The music is just beautiful, and is perfectly suited for the rain-soaked illustrations. Really, really cool book/CD combo.

[Alicia · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a little hard to read this book considering there are no words! But, there is a CD of music that goes along with the book. The songs are classical piano and are neat, just not for a two year old, yet.

[Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

the illustration in this wordless book is really good, but the CD that comes with it is fantastic.

[Ezekiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn't get to experience it with music, might like it better then.

[Karl Mongrain · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most original wordless books I've seen in a long time! No surprise it won the NY Times "Best Illustrated Book Award" in 2002. The illustrator Jae-Soo Liu (or Ryu in some translations...), who is also a teacher, offers inspiring images that really captivate both the young ones and the not so young! The composer Dong-Il Sheen wrote also a very effective and original music. It sounds simple, but it is actually meant to be performed by a professional pianist. If you got someone who can play the piano music live, that is a great way to immerse kids even more into the story. A song is sung in Korean on track 2 of the disc. The score for this piece is at the end of the Hardcover format of the book, with an English translation. Where are all these umbrellas going? Who is hiding under the yellow umbrella? [...] A book that offers endless possibilities for multidisciplinary activities!

[Shelby · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Yellow Umbrella" by Jae-Soo Liu is a wonderful book that can be used in DOZENS of lessons. The pages consist of a yellow umbrella being walked through a rainy day. Sometimes other umbrellas join the yellow, sometimes it walks alone. The book ends with a beautiful page filled with colorful umbrellas. The trick to this book and its versatility is that there are no words! Yes, this is a wordless picture book. I would use this book in my classroom to teach lessons about emotions and how the umbrella might feel walking through the book. Another lesson could fall under a musical category, an artistic category, or simply a freely creative lesson involving the students coming up with their own, unstructured ideas about the illustrations. I love this book, and will definitely keep a copy handy in my classroom!

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wordless book that shows one person's path from home to work on a rainy day. We see everyone from a top view, so all we see are the tops of their umbrellas.

The book comes with a CD that has musical accompaniment for each page. I felt like the illustrations transitioned better page to page than the music did.

If I were reading it to a group, I'd read it once through talking with everyone about each page, then read it again with the music.

[Eleanor W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reminded me of the pixar short film the blue umbrella. There isn't any words to the book, but lots of umbrellas moving. The CD was missing so we were not able to get the full effect. The photos were pretty.

[Haley Snell · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in my ELE101 class last semester. It actually has no words but comes with an audio of sounds, but it fits the pictures perfectly. There are many musical activities you could do to accompany this book.

[Lynsy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was okay. I liked the accompanying music and how it makes you focus on the art in the book. The Korean song that goes with it added to the appeal of the book, and overall I think kids would enjoy looking at the pictures and imagining who might be beneath the umbrellas.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully painted illustrations tell a wordless story of how we are all the same under our umbrellas. If you don't read the dust jacket, you may not get the message, but one can still take in the simple beauty of the dance of colorful umbrellas on their morning commute.

[Nitoy Gonzales · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took a while for me to "get it" the story by reading the short explanation of the author. The artwork is just OK. I think for the full appreciation of this book, it's better to listen to the music that this book is attached to.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

This lovely wordless picture book comes with a CD of (also wordless and lovely) piano music for listening while looking. Great for people who love rainy days.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

We loved this book and CD - my husband and I, our 9, 6, and 4 year old girls!

[Mel Schuit · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 - would be much higher but I desperately wish there wasn’t a musical component to this.

[CreateEveryday Classroom · Rating 5 out of 5]

the coinciding music wins this book 5 stars

[Mary Hamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perfect rainy day picture book. There is no text and music/cd is a must to enjoy the whole experience. https://youtu.be/9KWdb9BHDr0

[Katie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the concept of using a book to explore how music can tell a story but I found the pictures really didn't add anything to the music.

[Chrisanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Soothing.

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first time I read this book, I liked it. I thought it was cool how the pictures told the story of this umbrella on it's way to school even though there were no words. I really liked how the bright umbrellas seemingly meeting each other. It was fun and creative. Then, I put in the CD and WOW, I loved it! Suddenly these umbrellas had personality. Suddenly, a story was really created. The music on the CD is not only beautiful, but really helps tell the story. One time I accidentally turned two pages instead of one, but I could easily tell that I had messed up. The music was just not going with the pictures, but when I fixed it, it made so much more sense. The classical piano is just beautiful to listen to and does not need the book to go with it, although it is much better with the book. They just complement each other so well.
Besides the track on the CD that goes with the book, there are more tracks. Most of them are just expanded versions of the ones for each page, but one track is described as the the theme of the book. Words and music are also printed in the back of the book.
I would strongly recommend this book to lower elementary age students and teachers. I would also recommend it to music teachers to discuss how music can tell a story. I would also incorporate dance into because there are different dances that I would do with each page/part of the song.

[Crystal Lough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Yellow Umbrella is a picture book. It is meant for pre-primary and primary children. The book has no words. It comes with a CD that essentially tells the story. While flipping through the pages after each page you can see a new umbrella. You cannot see who is carrying the umbrella. You can only see where they are. They go down steps, into a subway, down a narrow street, each time adding an umbrella. By the end of the book you see all of the umbrellas and children's legs and feet walking into a school house. I rated this book a 5 because it has many good qualities. For example, the lack of detail on the pictures leaves the story up for interpretation by the students. This forces the students to think about what is going on. The lack of story elements such as plot and characters actually work in this books favor promoting creativity. Stopping every once in a while and asking children their opinions about what's going on is a very good strategy to motivate children to be actively thinking during listening. I think this book is very appealing to children. Having a CD is instantly interesting to children because it is electronic. I could use this book in class as a way to work on sentence structurexpressing thier ideas and critical thinking.

[Amy B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Liu, J. (2002). Yellow umbrella. LaJolla, California. Kane/ Miller.

This colorful wordless picture book is sure to be a favorite for children age’s two to eight. The author-illustrator tells the story through beautiful water colored images of umbrellas. The images speak to you and clearly depict the beauty of the colors. The CD that accompanies the book is a collection of different interpretations of the book. Track one presents a playful tune that is sure to capture readers and give them a sense of what it is like to take a walk in the rain. The second track is a Korean sung song that is paired with English lyrics for children to sing along. I feel that this book can be a delightful read aloud to children that allows room for personal interpretation

[Taylor Howard]

The images in this book seem to be done with acrylic paint where you can see the brush stokes. In the umbrellas, however, you can not see the strokes. This works as an advantage to the book because it makes them stand out from the background. The colors also make them stand out because they are very bright and the background is a dull colors. Throughout the book, it shows different color umbrellas finding their way to one another and making their way throughout a city. This is not a book I would particularly recommend to a child because I do not think the pictures are interesting enough to capture a child's attention without words.

[Jo-Ann]

Fiction:
The Rain Came Down by David Shannon
One Rainy Day by Valeri Gorbachev
This is the Rain by Lola Schaefer



Nonfiction:








Activity/Movement/Song:
See Resource Book "The sound of Storytime" Page 93 - Activity to do while reading the book.
Add repeating line like " And the rain came down all around, all around till the rain made puddles on the ground. Kids can shake their shakers and repeat the chant each time you turn the page.
"The Sound of Storytime" page 95 - It's Raining Opposites Chant & Page 96 "Rain Freeze"




Craft: