I Love The Rain by Margaret Park Bridges,illustrated by Christine Davenier Ages 4-8 32 pages Chronicle Books April 2005 Hardcover     Molly hates the rain. The gray skies, the puddles and the way it makes people grouchy add to her disdain. But her friend Sophie turns her umbrella and Molly’s beliefs upside down when she finds magic in the drizzle. Leaves floating down the gutter are runaway rafts for ants. Rain pounding on the roof becomes a chorus of tap dancers on a stage above. Raindrops hitting their faces remind Sophie of confetti in a parade. The melodic text and the bright watercolor illustrations will help readers six years and above see the positive where they may have only seen the negative before. The story also emphasizes the benefits of friendship with a creative and optimistic person and unleashes the power of a child’s imagination. If this book is read in an elementary school classroom or library, it could easily be coupled with experiments or activities that involve rain. Or the teacher could piggyback onto the kind of imagination revealed in the text and have the children look for the positive in something else they had previously only viewed as negative, like slugs. Margaret Park Bridges is a great storyteller and has a sure winner in I Love the Rain. The book should be a bestseller in Seattle, Washington. It’s not quite as creative as Doreen Cronin’s Diary of a Worm or her Duck for President but it ranks a close second.     web reviews   Heather Larson/2005 for curled up with a good kid's book   For grown-up fiction, nonfiction and speculative fiction book reviews, visit our sister site Curled Up With a Good Book (www.curledup.com)