Puddles

by Jonathan London

Overview

Morning is magical after a night of rain and thunder. And best of all are the puddles! Big ones, little ones, long ones, skinny ones. Splash! Splash! Splash! Put on your raincoat and join two puddle-jumpers in this bouncy read-along that's just right for a rainy day or any day.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140561753
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	04/26/1999
Series:	Picture Puffin Books
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	170,343
Product dimensions:	8.38(w) x 10.56(h) x 0.13(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jonathan London is the creator of more than 20 books about the lovable and enduringly popular character Froggy.  He is also a poet and a novelist. He burst on the children's book scene in 1992 with the publication of three picture books. Since then he has published over 100 picture books, including the Froggy series and the young adult novel Where's Home? Jonathan London started writing poetry in his late teens. Although he received a Masters Degree in Social Sciences and never formally studied literature or creative writing, he began to consider himself a "writer" about the time he graduated from college. After college, he became a dancer in a modern dance company and worked at numerous low-paying jobs as a laborer or counselor. However, during this 20-year period, London continued to write. He wrote poems and short stories for adults, earning next to nothing despite being published in many literary magazines. "It wasn't until I had kids of my own that I became a writer for children," he explains. "It all started with telling them stories when they were very young. I wrote down one of these stories, and it became The Owl Who Became the Moon, my first picture book sale (though it was my fourth to appear in print). Now I am finally making a living as a writer. A dream come true!" Born a "Navy brat" in Brooklyn, New York, London was raised on naval stations throughout the US and Puerto Rico. Today he lives with his wife, Maureen, and their two sons, Aaron and Sean, in rural Northern California, where they like to backpack in the summer, play in the snow in winter, and dance all year around.

Editorial Reviews

PreS-KThe creators of Like Butter on Pancakes (Viking, 1995) join forces again, this time in a paean to a puddle-filled day. Karas's paint-and-pastel illustrations use earthbound perspectives and the yellow-green tones of early spring to evoke the morning after a storm. Two children romp through this watery world in visual compositions that are strong and satisfying. Unfortunately, London's verse, particularly his onomatopoeic phrases ("drip drip drip," "splash, splash, splash!"), lacks the auditory panache of Kimberley Knutson's Muddigush (Macmillan, 1992), Mary Serfozo's Rain Talk (McElderry, 1990), Taro Yashima's Umbrella (Viking, 1958), or even Like Butter on Pancakes. Images such as "worms squirm/and stretch and leave tiny trails/in the muck like sloppy writing/they're learning the ABCs/of weather" and "Birds flap/from the trees/and we think the trees/are applauding!" may not mean much to very young audiences. Still, London catalogues a glorious array of the delights of muddy weather, and Karas adds the zing.Marcia Hupp, Mamaroneck Public Library, NY

School Library Journal

From London (see review, above), a joyous celebration of a world all wet the morning after a night of rain. Brother and sister race outside to drink in the beauty and pleasure of a rain-soaked land: glittering beads in the pine needles, tiny rivulets on which to launch leaf boats, worms and frogs enjoying a good swim, a field of grass all pearly with droplets, and puddles—"Big ones, little ones, long ones, skinny ones—pieces of sky on the ground." The children pound their way through each and every one, getting properly drenched in the process. Then it's home to a bath, new clothes, a mug of cocoa, and back outside for another round of puddle-jumping. The text has a bouncy, pleasing lilt—"All night the slash/of rain and the flash/of lightning, and the/Ka-BOOM!/of thunder rattling/the house and all/the windows. We cuddle/between fright/and glee and want it/to stop/and never stop." The illustrations are full of light, color, and motion, especially in the adroit depictions of mud and water, reflections and perspectives.

Kirkus Reviews