It seems fitting to continue on my rain trail today.

In this day of electronic gadgets and all the games available on line and so forth I have no idea if any kid would even consider some of the ideas in Joey Green's Rainy Day Magic: 443 Simple Projects to Do With Kids Using Brand-Name Products You've Already Got Around the House, but I sure thought some of them sounded like fun! I loved all the possibilities for making instruments, and laughed over 'marshmallow golf' (using Jet Puffed marshmallows, remember those??) You can do batik, and make bread, or costumes ... if nothing else, this might just be fun for the nostalgia of it all.

Music, a bit of local history, old photos .... there's much to enjoy in The Rainy Day Song Book: Traditional and Contemporary Songs of the Northwest, collected and edited by Linda Allen. Usually when I 'read' a music book like this I'm sitting at the piano but this time I was lazy and stayed in my recliner with my cup of tea. It was still good! :-)

This is a book to read out loud. Even if you live alone. The Rain Train, by Elena de Roo and Brian Lovelock is all about a ride through the rain at night. Beautiful pictures and descriptive (!) text.

I'm including It Never Rains in Antarctica and Other Freaky Facts About Climate, Land, and Nature, by Barbara Seuling and illustrated by Ryan Haugen mostly because of the title. It's one of those fun kid's books with a lot of information given in short entries.

A few short stories about rain come to mind, too: The Long Rain, by Ray Bradbury. It's found in R is for Rocket, at least on my shelf. It has been raining, steadily and heavily. The hope is to reach a Sun Dome. Can unceasing rain make you crazy? Did they find a working Sun Dome or is it an illusion? Classic Bradbury! All Summer in a Day, also by Bradbury, is not an any of the collections on my shelf. It takes place on Venus, where the sun comes out for one hour every seven years. A new student, from Earth, remembers what sun is like and tries to describe it to the others. They don't believe her, make fun of her, and lock her in a closet. The sun does come out, it is as she described it, but only when it starts to rain again to they remember where she is. I remember such a feeling of helplessness when I read this.

For other books about rain, check back to October 25, 2014 and June 27, 2015.

Reading Hermit With Dog