Hello, Rain!

by Kyo Maclear, Chris Turnham (Illustrator)

A picture book celebrating all the reasons to love the rain! Flowers bloom in the garden. Umbrellas bloom on the streets. There are puddles for jumping and, later, a cozy home for hot chocolate and books.

The air is full of waiting. The sky is full of breeze. The trees gust and billow. All before it rains.
Rumble, rumble. Distant thunder. Rain is coming, rain is coming.

Genres: Picture Books, Nature, Childrens, Storytime, Poetry, Animals, Fiction

44 pages, Hardcover

First published April 13, 2021

About the author

Kyo Maclear is an essayist, novelist and children’s author. She was born in London, England and moved to Toronto at the age of four with her British father (a foreign correspondent and documentary filmmaker) and Japanese mother (a painter and art dealer).

Her books have been translated into eighteen languages, published in over twenty-five countries, and garnered nominations from the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the National Magazine Awards, among other honours.

Unearthing: a Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets (2023) was a national bestseller and awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction. Her hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017) was a #1 National Bestseller and winner of the Trillium Book Award and the Nautilus Book Award for Lyrical Prose. It was named one of the best books of 2017 by The Globe and Mail, CBC, Now Magazine, the National Post, Forbes, the Chicago Review of Books, and Book Riot.

Her work has appeared in Orion Magazine, Brick, Border Crossings, The Millions, LitHub, The Volta, Prefix Photo, Resilience, The Guardian, Lion’s Roar, Azure, The Globe and Mail, and elsewhere. She has been a national arts reviewer for Canadian Art and a monthly arts columnist for Toronto Life.

Kyo holds a doctorate in environmental humanities teaches creative writing with The Humber School for Writers and the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA.

She lives in Tkaronto/Toronto, on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, the Haudenosaunee, Métis, and the Huron-Wendat.

Reviews

[Afaf Ammar · Rating 4 out of 5]

" Hello rain,
The air is full of waiting
The sky is full of breeze
The trees gust and billow
All before it rains.
Rumble, rumble.
Distant thunder.
Rain is coming,
Rain is coming.



Wanna play a board game,
Wanna read a book,
Wanna build a fort?
Naps and secrets are both better
when it rains.



Hello sparrows, with your bright sparrow voices.
Hello goldfinches, With your swee-swee song.
Hello flowers, Ripe and rosy.
Hello mushrooms, plump and proud.
Hello sun! "





قصة مصورة مبهجة كالمطر ودافئة كالشمس بعد المطر، برسومات مشرقة وجميلة،
عن طفلة تحتفل بسحر وجمال المطر مع كلبها اللطيف ومظلتها الملونة بطرق مبهجة، في الشارع وفي البيت بجوار النافذة وقطرات المطر تدق عليها،
وفي الحديقة مع الأزهار والعصافير تنتظر أن تعود الشمس مرة أخرى بعد المطر،

أحببتها جدًا كالمطر
وأحب قلبي دفئها كالشمس بعد المطر ~💜🌧☔🌞💜

13.1.2022

[Abby Johnson]

In this colorful, poetic ode to a rainstorm, a young child heads out to play in the rain until a storm really starts to roll in and she heads back home to get warm and dry. This is a great springtime read for when rain and storms are frequent.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The air is full of waiting.
The sky is full of breeze.
The trees gust and billow.
All before it rains.

Rumble, rumble.
Distant thunder.
Rain is coming,
rain is coming."

Author Kyo Maclear and illustrator Chris Turnham perfect capture the magic of a rainy day in Hello, Rain.

[Arvia Maharhani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ilustrasinya bagus, dan cara menulisnya seperti puisi!

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

When I read HELLO RAIN! I was immediately reminded of a story I heard recently. Last month we experienced several days of nonstop rain. For my three year old and almost two year old nephews, that meant a lot of inside days without trips to the park or the pool. Happily though, their creative mom (my niece) took them on lots of walks in their rain boots and slickers. They always found lots of puddles to jump over, lots of dripping trees to stand beneath and lots of storm drains to watch. It turned out to be lots of fun for everyone.

This is exactly what happens to our little girl and her faithful dog in this joyous story which awakens your senses. The rain is coming and she decides it’s a perfect time to put on her rain things and “go outside!”. The story, told in verse, describes her adventures as she uses every one of her senses to enjoy the wonder of the day and to explore the nature in her world. I loved the playful and descriptive language and the colorful, somewhat muted illustrations, which help us feel the mood of the day and the happiness she discovers in nature.

This is such a fun read aloud, thanks to the rhythm of the text and the charming illustrations. You’ll find there are so many interesting words to talk about, whether it’s the onomatopoeias describing the first few sprinkles, the synonyms for rain or the intriguing adjectives scattered throughout the pages. And you might even find your little one hoping for a rainy day.

[The Silvan Reverie | Sarah Street · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful and playful celebration of rain! I confess I'm biased because there isn't a Kyo Maclear book I don't like, but this one truly is a gem. The illustrations are fun and I love the color palette--the depictions of raindrops as oversized fits the overall tone of the book. I love that the narrative is just a girl and her dog, nothing overdone and hits all the right notes. The way the text is creatively spread across pages is brilliant.

A fun read, perfect for spring, and one children will want to live out and revisit.

**Note: I was given a review copy of this book from Chronicle Kids. Opinions are my own.

[Moonkiszt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Featured in a grandma reads session.

A joyful celebration of rain, that beautiful wet stuff that keeps us alive. . . .living in the Pacific Northwest makes one philosophical about it. The illustrator comes from the PNW and it shows in his lovely artwork, every rain drop created with a big dollop of love. The umbrellas are ironic, though, as PNWers really don't use them like other people do. We mostly find other uses for them. Party decorations, squirrel feeders, garden bugaboos instead of scarecrows, something to keep the sun off. All is good.

And the weather where we are? Yep. Raining.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Textured illustrations in a consistent color scheme perfectly accompany lyrical (but not rhyming) text. Alliteration and rich vocabulary make this book a pleasure to read and share. It explores quite a few aspects of a rainy day, too - sounds, playing outside in the rain, how animals and plants react, getting inside when lightning is near, cozy indoor activities, and the freshness after the rain stops.

[Deb · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book improved my opinion of rain. It reminded me of all the reasons to like it. I've been having trouble transitioning from summer to fall, so I read this at a perfect time. The illustrations are nice, but its the words that I really like. I want to look for other books by this author. I appreciate books that get me to think and teach me things. I don't always like other people's poetry, but I really like the words in this book. It's been a while since I've reviewed a book for Alena.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Extra fitting that it started to rain while reading this!

[Ashley Lambert-Maberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much packed into this book! I've read some disappointing picture books lately (to be totally frank, in a chance to catch up with my reading goal: a few 600+ page novels have set me back, so I'm making it up with a flurry of tiny little books). Not this one: in it there is so much, sounds, colors, concepts, feelings, things to ponder, and even a slight narrative arc. I'm impressed.

(Note: I'm a writer, so I suffer when I offer fewer than five stars. But these aren't ratings of quality, they're a subjective account of how much I liked the book: 5* = an unalloyed pleasure from start to finish, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = disappointing, and 1* = hated it.)

[Kelvino · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in French , dude it’s so cuteeee, it’s poetic

[Erfan · Rating 3 out of 5]

بارون با خودش خوشحالی رو میاره، مخصوصا وقتی بعد از مدت‌های طولانی باریده باشه.

[Rainbow Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello, Rain! by Kyo Maclear perfectly captures the nostalgic experience of playing out in the rain as a child. In this book, we follow a young girl and her dog as they explore outside on a rainy day. The playful text makes this one perfect for a read-aloud, and the eye-catching illustrations by Chris Turnham are sure to capture the attention of young readers.

Hello, Rain! is the perfect book to entertain young nature lovers who are stuck inside during a rainstorm. It officially releases next week (April 13, 2021), but you can preorder your copy today wherever books are sold.

Kyo Maclear is a novelist and children’s author based in Toronto. To learn more about her and her work, please visit her website at kyomaclear.com.

Chris Turnham is a printmaker and illustrator based in Los Angeles, California. Please visit his website at www.christurnham.com for more information about him and his work.

Thank you to Chronicle Books for generously providing a review copy of this wonderful book!

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[Gabby Blankenship · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello, Rain! is a children’s picture book written by Kyo Maclear and illustrated by Chris Turnham. The book is intended for preschoolers and kindergarten-aged children. The book follows a little girl and her dog exploring and having a rainy adventure outside. I enjoyed reading this book, I think that children’s books about rain are very common, but the language and art style used to tell these stories can create diverse stories with different vibes, moods, and messages. I enjoyed this story because of how effective the writer and illustrator are in conveying a feeling of admiration and joy regarding rain. Maclear uses many verbs and adjectives to describe what is happening in the story and the illustrations work together with them to represent that. The illustrations are my favorite part of the story because of Turnham’s use of perspective, texture, and color. The colors used to stay consistent throughout the story but are cool and bright which makes me feel cozy and happy. The texture of the illustrations is like a mix of crayon and watercolor which gives the story a youthful and joyful vibe. And the changes in perspective and dimension make looking at the pages more enjoyable. I think that a young child would enjoy this book because of how attractive the illustrations are and how well the words pair with them. I think this book would be great to read at the beginning of spring to prepare for the incoming rainy weather.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Celebrate a rainy day with your child by reading this book that shares all the wonderful joys of rain. From the music the raindrops make by hitting your windows to splashing in a puddle to watching the grass and flowers grow, there is much to enjoy about a good rainstorm. There are even things to enjoy inside when it is raining, like playing a game, building a fort, or reading a book (my favorite).

The author uses repetitive text, onomatopoeias, and pure fun to share the joy of rain with a child. The illustrations have a rainy feel with lots of blues and greys mixed with pops of color like in an umbrella or a blooming flower. But, the author does remind kids when it is time to go inside during the rain, when there is the Flash! of lightning and Crack! of thunder.

I love the imaginative play between the girl and her dog on a rainy afternoon. The best part of a good rainy day, is the sun that comes out after and all the birds, flowers, and insects that come back out from hiding. Just like in life, kids are reminded that sun always shines after a rainy day.

[The Blossoming Bibliophiles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rainy days bring along a touch of magic with them, and that is beautifully portrayed in this poetic story!

From rain boots and umbrellas, to puddles and rainbows, rain transforms the world into a lush playground that too many of us adults are ever too eager to escape from. Leave it to a girl and her dog to show us how magnificent a rainy day can truly be!

Kyo Maclear and Chris Turnham have really outdone themselves with this stunningly beautiful book! The artistic details are 👌🏼, including the gorgeous surprise under the dust jacket and how the glossy rain drops on the front cover reflect the light.

It’s safe to say this is my favorite rainy day read!

The publisher sent me this book in exchange for my honest review.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl waits for the rain, and when it starts, she gets all dressed to go out in it - even puts the dog in a raincoat. Puddles, splashing, playing tin he water running down the curb. And then, the animals who love the rain come out - frogs, worms, and snails. The rain waters the flowers and the tress. But lightning and thunder chase them back inside, until the storm is over, then there's all new adventures to be had in the glistening sunshine.

So much onomatopoeia made this a delightful book! This little girl loves everything about the rain, her delight made me so happy. Great illustrations highlight the poetic text. A marvelous read aloud.

Cross posted to http://kissthebookjr.blogspot.com

[Ersa S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way the author and illustrator worked together on the text in the book. So often I see kid's picture books using so much space for the text in a blank box, a page all on it's own, or overlapping the illustrations in a jumbled mess, but this book has combined the two beautifully. It is so cute how the words will follow the flow of water, or stand out to bring attention to a part of the picture, or "hide" in the window on the wall. Just gave the book a much more inviting feel.

The story was fabulous as well. Great work on adding description words to the rain, movement, and other environment happenings. I think it is a fantastic way to expose young readers to synonyms as well as broadening their language skills.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Every rainfall plays a different tune.”

A little girl and her dog go outside to explore the world while it is raining and there are wonderful sights and sounds to behold. The intricacies of how the rain falls in so many different ways, how it lands in so many different ways and all the benefits to nature that are supplied by the rain. Then, when too wet to stay outside, they come back in to enjoy the rain from the inside. “Naps and secrets are both better when it rains.”

A great mentor text for descriptive writing.

[Jared White · Rating 3 out of 5]

A celebration of all you can do on a rainy day, both outside and in! I like all sorts of weather so it was neat to see how this little one delighted at a rainy day but this book was rather long and there was quite a bit of text. Because of that, I'm not sure if I would use this in a storytime with any crowd younger than elementary age. If you have a younger one who loves books, this may still be great for a one on one...you could maybe read it on a rainy day, after you all had played outside in the rain to get rid of a bit of energy. :)

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's not much reason for me to give this book a low rating. It's a children's book I was only reading for a Bookshelf challenge which was about reading genres that I wouldn't pickup unprompted. It was fun in a way because I got to learn so many synonyms for rain lmao.

I don't think I would've picked it up if not for the challenge so that's good. The illustrations were cute tho especially the one where she plays chess with her pet.

[Sarah Alamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

We're so proud of you for reading "Hello, Rain!" You learned something beautiful—that rainy days aren't sad, they're magical! Rain makes flowers grow and creates sparkly puddles to splash in. Just like the girl in the story, you can go outside when it rains and discover wonderful things. Listen to the rain's gentle music, watch the droplets dance. You're becoming such an amazing reader, sweetheart, and we love how you're learning new ways to see the world!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, even though it feels a little like it's trying to be more than it is. The language feels forced in some places, like it's trying to prove a poetic point that doesn't need to be made. But the art is lovely, and there are moments of wonder in it. The full-page spreads are a delightful surprise every time.

[mushtabara · Rating 4 out of 5]

(4,0⭐️) “But why hurry when the sky is an adventure?”

I was reading this book while it’s raining—very cold indoor and outdoor! Nice and colorful children picture book ^^ My personal favorite cuz it reminds me of my childhood when I really enjoy the rain as the same as the way the mc’s activities in the story.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked: *interesting perspectives and movement in the illustrations *poetic language that evokes sensory experience (and not rhyming) *many different ways for experiencing the rain allows a lot of opportunities to connect with the story. I like how it surprised me with a different style than I expected.

[Sandy Brehl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Channel your inner child, or your inner Gene Kelly in SINGIN' IN THE RAIN, and savor every delicious drip and savory syllable of this book.
Wonderfully upbeat and embracing attitudes, perfect for any rainy/cloudy day, whether literal or figurative.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by two authors who grew up in different cities that rained often, this story guides the reader through an encyclopedia of all things rain. I loved it. It felt like the author's were singing me a song as we traveled through this outdoor adventure.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bright fun pictures illustrating all the phases of a rainy day, from the soft fun splashy rain, to a crack of lightning to the quiet drizzle as the storm ends. The addition of plant names and more specific illustrations were a pleasant surprise. The plink, plank, words will be fun with kiddos.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this on a rainy day so that probably helped to set the mood. I loved the illustrations and thought they did a great job of creating appropriate atmosphere. The pace of the text was a tiny bit off to me because I kept expecting it to rhyme and it didn’t. For anyone who loves the rain