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    Come On, Rain!
    Come On, Rain!
    Come On, Rain!
    Audiobook10 minutes

    Come On, Rain!

    Written by Karen Hesse

    Narrated by Leila Ali

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    Tess knows that the only thing that can fix the listless vines, the crackling dry path, the broiling alleyway and her sagging mama, is a good, soaking rainstorm. "Come on, rain!" she whispers into the endless summer heat. When it finally comes, there is shouting and dancing as everyone and everything spring to life.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherWeston Woods
    Release dateJan 1, 2003
    ISBN9780545786133
    Come On, Rain!
    Author

    Karen Hesse

    Karen Hesse is the author of many books for young people, including Out of the Dust, winner of the Newbery Medal, Letters from Rifka, Brooklyn Bridge, Phoenix Rising, Sable and Lavender. In addition to the Newbery, she has received honors including the Scott O’Dell Historical Fiction Award, the MacArthur Fellowship “Genius” Award and the Christopher Award, and was nominated for a National Jewish Book Award. Born in Baltimore, Hesse graduated from the University of Maryland. She and her husband Randy live in Vermont.

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    Reviews for Come On, Rain!

    4.5/5

    128 ratings14 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 5/5
      Beautifully illustrated story about how a summer shower changes the muggy environment on an urban street.
    • 4/5
      I like this book for many reasons. First, the language was descriptive, and also used repeated lines such as, “Come on, rain!” I also enjoyed the plot of the book, which was about the rain coming down on a hot summer day. The narrator, who was a young girl, wanted to go play outside in the rain with her friends. The dialogue made the story more interesting and added a lot more emotion, especially between the narrator and her mother. The mother was hesitant to let her daughter play out in the rain. I also liked that the story was in the form of a poem.
    • 4/5
      This is beautifully illustrated book that has rich descriptive language. Another added bonus is the incidental treatment of race - lots of different kinds of people come together to enjoy the cooling showers. This is a good book to look for phrases and words that impart feelings of characters.

      AD780L
    • 5/5
      There are three reasons why I enjoyed this book. The first reason why it was so enjoyable was the plot of the story. With each page you anticipate that the rain should be coming but it is not until the climax that the clouds open up and rain finally arrives. Leading up to this event we as the reader are engaged in a hot and sticky feeling while reading due to the wonderful use of imagery. With this added part to the story's plot, it builds on the excitement later in the story. Secondly, I enjoyed the use of point of view in this story. The point of view is clearly stated by the author's use of I and how Tessi seems to dictate her memories of that day so vividly. Lastly, I enjoyed the writing style of the author in how at parts of the book you go gliding through the words and in others you are sticky like the humidity depicted. This adds a layer of depth to the reader's perception of the events taking place. In conclusion the message of the story is to always have patience, because in life you are not able to get what you want in a split second. Like all good things in life it takes time.
    • 3/5
      I had mixed feelings about this book after reading it. I liked the book because the language was very descriptive. "Her long legs, like two brown string beans, sprout from her shorts." This allows readers to visualize exactly what is being read and will benefit students comprehension. I didn't like that this book may not be relatable to students. Although this story may be interesting to read due to pictures and description I do not think it would very engaging to students. The big idea of this story is patience, although you may want something to come desperately waiting will make it even more enjoyable when it does.
    • 5/5
      Rain is the only thing that will make the young girl happy in "Come On, Rain!". She wants to be able to cool off in the mist of the rain and to dance around in her bathing suit. I think that the big message this story wants to portray is that keeping the determination and setting a goal in mind is always a great idea. Even if it takes a while to achieve, just as the rain took a while to finally come, it should always be important. The young girl wants her Mama and her friends to be happy! She longingly looks out the window, up to the sky, and tells the rain to come! She never gave up on her goal of making the rain come so that everyone could cool off. The way the author described the rain coming down made me feel like I was standing in the rain with those girls. "It streams through our hair and down our backs. It freckles our feet, glazes our toes." This description of the rain sends me back to the times where I would dance around in the rain with my friends. I can feel every feeling I felt back then, just from reading this story. This story helped me to escape to a much calmer and cooler time in my life, at least for the moment.
    • 4/5
      This book depicts a mother and her daughter on a hot summer day. All day, the daughter hopes for rain. She wants to go outside and dance in the sprinklers in her swimsuit, but her mother tells her no, "you'll burn all over." Finally, the rain comes, and she and her friends dance around in it. This book is somewhat poetic in its writing. It might be a bit difficult for younger children to fully comprehend. The illustrations really help set the tone for this particular scenario. Before the rain, there were a lot of yellows and oranges. During the rain, the book took on a gray tone. It helps sense the feel of everything.
    • 5/5
      This was a tremendous book. I recommend it for anyone looking for some lyrical, poetic figurative language. Realy a strong piece of writing from Karen Hesse. Jon Muth's watercolors are crisp and clean and expressive. This was a great book. I loved it.
    • 4/5
      A lovely picture-book evocation of stifling summer heat, and the blessed relief that a rainstorm can bring, Come On, Rain! is a book that brought me back to my own childhood, when my first impulse, when sensing the approach of rain, was to run outside in the hopes of being "caught" in the deluge. As Burmese democracy activist Aung San Suu Kyi once wrote, "When bathing in the rain was no longer one of great pleasures of my existence, I knew I had left my childhood behind me." This beautiful book, in which a young girl named Tess, eagerly anticipating the rain, manages to get her three friends - and then their mothers! - out into the downpour, makes me feel that I have not, after all, really left my childhood entirely behind.Yes, I still feel the pull of the rain, and Karen Hesse captures that feeling with her words, just as the marvelously talented Jon J. Muth - better known for his Zen Shorts, and its sequels - does with his gorgeous watercolor artwork! It's a testament to the power of their creation that, although I grew up in an environment far removed from Tess's urban neighborhood, I instantly identified with her story. Just a beautiful book, highly recommended to fans of the artist, and to any reader who has longed for the rain, and its cool caress.
    • 3/5
      The pictures and text in Come on Rain express the characters' strong longing for rain in their dry city, and their joy once the rain finally comes. The watercolor pictures are whimsical. The language is rich, including metaphors, alliteration, and onomatopoeia. The vocabulary would probably need scaffolded for most picture book readers.
    • 4/5
      "Come on, Rain" is a story in anticipation for the rain. A girl and her mother are awaiting rainstorm in the summer heat. The descriptive writing brings the reader to that place and time. We can relate to the feeling of a rainstorm about to happen. The water color illustrations contribute to the grey and rainy feeling of the book.
    • 5/5
      I loved this book. The illustrations and writing are beautiful and they compliment each other nicely. I would like to explore some more books by both the illustrator and author. This story hit close to home for me - I remember being so excited for rain and running out in my suit and dancing in the rain with my family. This was such an amazing book - I really enjoyed it.
    • 4/5
      I love rain! I immediately fell in love in the first time my professor read it in my children’s literature class. Then, I go back and read it myself. I admire the strong voice of the characters. Hesse’s poetic style is a powerful appeal for readers to feel how hot it is in a long summer so people desperately want it to rain. It presents rhythmic writing and expressive text, yet it is still accessible for young readers to evoke readers to celebrate a refreshing rain. The first raindrop is so well illustrated and immediately invites readers to feel a joy and fun play with friends, neighbors, and mothers.It is a lovely, lively, and simple story told in a natural way, a perfect combination with Muth’s amazing pictures. The artwork is imaginative, done in watercolors which are vivid color and solid. I really like how the people look like. It is just beautiful. I would use this book with my kids for reading and discussion about the weather.
    • 5/5
      It's a hot day. It's a very hot day, and I imagine it's muggy too. Hot, humid, no rain in three weeks, the plants and the people wilting. When our protagonist sees the clouds coming in she gets her friends and tells them to get their bathing suits. You can *feel* the relief when they (and their color-coded mothers) go dancing in the rain as that heat breaks. You can just about feel the rain on you by looking at the pictures! The text makes the mood - weary and tired when it's hot, happier when the rain falls.One thing I especially like is how the girl gets her bathing suit on. She had asked her mother, but her mother told her she'd burn in the sun. So she went and fetched a friend and told HER to put her suit on - and then pointed out to her mother that if her FRIEND had her suit on, surely SHE could get hers on as well? This is the sort of going-behind-the-grownups-backs that I do NOT encourage or condone - in fact, I pointed it out specifically to my nieces as something that I really don't want them doing - but it's so effective and so typical that I had to laugh!