Drip, Drop! The Rain Won’t Stop. by Sheila Sweeney Higginson, illustrated by Josie Yee. 2010. Simon Spotlight. 24 pages. ISBN: 9781416990468 Drip, Drop! The Rain Won’t Stop! is a “Your Turn, My Turn Reader” published by Playskool, which is recommended for ages 3 and up. Like the We Both Read books, this one is set up so that one side of the page is read by the adult, and the other side, with simpler text, is read by the child. A four-paragraph letter to teachers and parents inside the front cover explains how this format is to be used, and also highlights other features of the book that make the reading experience even more engaging and interactive: the repetitive text, simplified illustrations, and hidden rainbows on each page.
The story itself focuses on Digger the Dog and his friend Go Go Dino, who are stuck inside on a rainy day. As in many other children’s books about rainy days, they go through the usual rainy day activities - building with blocks, having a snack, building a fort - until finally the sun comes out and they go out and play. The side of the page designated for the adult reader relays all of the action, while the child gets to read onomatopoetic words like “drip”, “plop,” and “splash” along with the refrain “The rain is falling.” The cartoonish illustrations adhere pretty closely to what happens in the text itself, but with some additional details to provide context and allow the child the opportunity to imagine additions to the story not mentioned directly. As promised by the front cover, there is a rainbow hidden on every page, which is a nice way to promote print motivation in preschoolers who do not yet read words.
The cover made me think this book was a media tie-in of some kind, but it seems that Digger and Go Go are only book characters these days, even if they might have been Playskool toys in the past. I think kids get easily attached to recurring characters, so I understand why the same ones appear in a number of Playskool stories, but kids picking up this book on its own might not have any idea who the characters are, and the story doesn’t really give us anything to go on. I had the sense that I was missing something, that I was meant to know these characters and was just out of touch, and I wonder if kids will pick up on that feeling, too, especially since other easy reader characters are so easily identifiable.
Drip, Drop! The Rain Won’t Stop! is an average easy reader overall. It suits the intended audience, promotes interaction with adults, and encourages kids to see books as sources of fun, but the story is run-of-the-mill, and unlikely to be that memorable.
I borrowed Drip, Drop! The Rain Won’t Stop! from my local public library.
For more about this book, visit Goodreads and Worldcat.
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