Rain Romp: Stomping Away a Grouchy Day
by Jane Kurtz. Illustrated by Dyanna Wolcott. (2002) Preschool Up. unp
(32 pages.) Greenwillow/HarperCollins. ISBN: 0-06-029805-7. $15.99
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Rain Romp: Stomping Away a Grouchy Day
by Jane Kurtz
Illustrated by Dyanna Wolcott
From the bookflap: "On a gray day the heroine of
this book feels every bit as grouchy as the cloudy, rainy, windy sky
outside her bedroom window. There is no way that her all-too-cheerful
Mom and Dad are going to convince her to get out of bed. Or is there?
How do you transform a stormy mood into a sunny one? This clever story
holds the secret: a stompong, romping, wild dance that can make you
feel like yourself again -- and ready at last for smiles and giggles
with the people who really do understand you after all."
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Annotation from the publisher: "When she awakens to a gray day, a little girl is in a grouchy mood until she and her parents find a way to make it better."
About the illustrator: Dyanna Wolcott. Dyanna has illustrated many books including Dog Days: Rhymes Around the Year by Jack Prelutsky and I Am Me
by Karla Kuskin. She lives, with her husband and daughter, in a rainy
small seaport town in the Pacific Northwest. Alicia Bay Laurel has been
Dyanna's life-long friend. A personal narrative about the illustrator
can be read in a recent journal entry on Alicia's website.
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Students at Benton Grade School, Benton, Kansas created these pictures
of their own rain romp as they prepared for a visit by Jane Kurtz. Jane
thought these illustrations were "wonderful."
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Classroom Connections
Collaborative Reading Titles:
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Evans, Lezlie. Rain Song. Illustrated by Cynthia Jabar. Houghton Mifflin, 1995.
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Freeman, Don. Rainbow of My Own. Puffin pb, 1978.
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Hesse, Karen. Come On, Rain!. Illustrated by Jon J. Muth. Scholastic, 1999.
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Stock, Catherine. Gugu's House. Houghton Mifflin, 2001
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Yashima, Taro. Umbrella (Picture Puffins). Scott Foresman/Pearson, 1985.
Reviews and Comments:
- "The simple, physical words and the vibrant gouache
and watercolor
illustrations express a broad range of emotions, and the poetic rhythm
of this energetic story will ring true with many kids." -- Booklist
- "How do you turn a grouchy mood into a
joyful one? Jane Kurtz knows that there's nothing a loving, creative,
and supportive family can't weather together. -- Children's Book Council
In an article, "A Treasure Trove of Picture Books For Fall," the editors of the Fall 2002 Shoppe Talk San Marino Toy and Book Shoppe Newsletter say that Rain Romp
is a "A romp in the rain [that] helps melt the grouchiness away. The
bouncy rhyming text is set into great soaking splashes of color
achieved with watercolors and gouache by Dyanna Wolcott." Read the full
review of this title on the San Marino Toy and Book Shoppe Site
In her Book Corner column for www.childrenslit.com Sharon Levin describes Rain Romp
as being "lyrical...[and] Fabulous and just in time for our rainy
season and the chance to stomp out our own bad moods." Read the full review.
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