Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman

Rainstorm by Barbara Lehman
Rating: 4.5 stars

Barbara Lehman has churned out a bunch of books with super interesting drawings, and without words.  If you're looking for another wordless picture book to add to your collection or check out from the library, definitely take a look at her collection.  We've looked at most of her books, and this is our favorite.  Her others are good, especially the award-winning The Red Book.  But they are better for a slightly older crowd, I think; I think Lorelei will start appreciating them in another 6-8 months or so.

Why read wordless picture books?  Here are a few reasons; a child can:

• "Read" a book all by herself, without any help from a grown-up
• Create a new and unique story each time they "read" it
• Adds her own words to the story, thereby practicing vocabulary and sentence structure
• "Read" the book TO you (I like to pretend that Lorelei has to read a book to me before I go to sleep, so she covers me up with a blanket and chooses a book to read to me.  Win-win situation!)
• Practice if-when and sequencing concepts

This book is a really good one, and shows the tale of a little boy who seems lonely on a rainy day in a big ol' mansion without any siblings or playmates.  He finds a key and realizes it unlocks a treasure chest which has only a ladder inside.  He climbs down and walks through a long tunnel, then surfaces on a little island where the sun is shining a group of smiling children are smiling, as if waiting for him.  They play together until the sun goes down, and the boy returns to his own cold house for dinner.  The next day he returns to the treasure chest and ladder, and meets the group of children in the tunnel--they were en route to find him.  He's overjoyed to bring them to his house, where they play together happily.

Super cute!  Unless your child is an only child and you live in a mansion when it rains all day, of course.  Then it might hit a little too close to home, and your child might be sad that there is no key, no treasure chest, and no group of kids waiting on the other side of a secret tunnel for him.  Then it might be a little sad.