Raindrops to Rainbow by John Miklos Jr. & Charlene Chua

 

Why this book?

What a fun rhyming book about colours! I really loved the cute illustrations that showed a little girl and how she felt and the colours she enjoyed over a rainy day. Even though this story seems simple, there are lots of layers and ways to use this story in the classroom (another thing that attracted me to to this one).

My thoughts as a creator:

If you’re interested in writing rhyming stories, the text in this book is a great example of how to weave another concept, in this case colours, into a rhyming story. The way the illustrator kept the focus on the main character and showed her emotions was great for helping young children connect to the story.

My thoughts as an educator:

Not only does this story teach us about the colours in a rainbow and give kids a chance to practice colour words and names, but it also showed the different emotions a young girl experienced throughout the day. This book is a good length for preschool or kindergarten kids and the rhyming words and colours keep students engaged during a read aloud.

Ages: 4 - 7

Grades: K - 3

Connections: colours, rainbows, emotions, storms

Activities:

Active Learning/Math: Have students go on a colour hunt for items of different colours around the room. Build a giant rainbow together using the items!

Literacy: Encourage children to listen for the rhyming words in the story. Choose one of the words and see how many rhymes you can come up with!

Social-Emotional Learning: Draw emoji faces to show the different feelings the girl experienced in the story. Encourage students to try to think of a time when they felt scared or joyful (or one of the other feelings they discussed). Encourage students to draw their own picture about a time when they experienced one of the feelings.

 

More resources:

Rainbow Activities for Kids at Growing a Jeweled Rose

Rainbow Activities for Preschool at Preschool Inspirations

Description from the publisher: 

Raindrops are falling outside, but there’s still a world of color to experience! Delightful rhymes and brilliant illustrations detail how a gloomy, rainy day might not actually be so gloomy after all when you get to spend time with Mom, Brown Bear, and the colors around you. And when a “beaming rainbow, bold and bright” cuts through the sky, everyone gets to experience the joy of all the colors that can only come after the rain.

Raindrops to Rainbow, written by John Miklos Jr. and illustrated by Charlene Chua was published by Penguin Random House.

I feature this book in Episode 3 of #3in3 (and Tea) with Debbie Ridpath Ohi. For other picture books we've featured, check out Debbie's Youtube playlist here.