Things I Like:

This is super cute! I love whole idea of walking between the raindrops.

Squirrel's activities in the beginning were very fitting and cute as well. I especially liked the baking of acorn cookies. That's the type of detail that children like. I know that my son would probably find it amusing (he's 6).

The language is spot-on. "He found a wheelbarrow made of wood" or "a picnic spot under a big and very old tree" or any number of other lines... they just sound exactly like a children's book should sound. The wording would be easy for early readers, but children would also probably enjoy hearing the story read to them.

It reads quite a bit like Arnold Lobel. Of course, the personification of animals also leans toward Lobel's style. He is the master of making animals into people, and he wrote for the same age group.

Observations & Suggestions:

The format is pretty cookie-cutter children's story. The set up... here's a lonely guy. The middle... collecting friends one by one. The end... they all have a picnic. It isn't exactly groundbreaking. Of course, it doesn't have to be. The format works. That is why it has been done a million times. It makes sense to the age group. I just thought that I would mention it.

The characters also didn't seem original at all. Basically, I feel like I've read this story a zillion times. Of course, my son went through a very long Arnold Lobel phase just a year or two ago... so maybe I really have just read this type of story one too many times. Bound to happen to parents with young children I guess.

Overall, I think that the story is very well done for what it is. I do think that children would like it. The piece also lends itself well to possible illustrations. Dancing in the rain, picnics, a squirrel painting and cooking and so forth. It is very visual.




My review has been submitted for consideration in "Good Deeds Get CASH!" .