An exploration of all that is beautiful about rain depicts such scenes a as a man on his way home from work, gazing at the rain streaking down his train window and children searching for baby fish in the drops they catch in the woods. PreSchool-Grade 3. When a gentle autumn rain simultaneously falls in the city, the town, and the forest, it touches the lives of two men, a woman, and two children. Upon seeing an elderly gent celebrating the rain, a commuter forgets his rush and rediscovers a forgotten childhood memory. In town, the woman is inspired to paint a picture of a neighbor's house. All the while, the young boy and his sister play in a wood. When these characters come together, the man shares his reminiscence with his family, his wife shows everyone her painting, and the children tell about their afternoon. Meanwhile, the old man sits over a lonely bowl of soup and ponders the beauty of the storm. Laser's low-key look at one of the gifts of nature is the perfect antidote to the weather-hysteria of local TV news. Each character finds pleasure and a moment of time in which to enjoy it. Greene's fine pastel illustrations are the perfect accompaniment to the poetic text. A warm palette of earth tones emphasizes the season and reflects the quiet tone of the story. With unique overhead perspectives, the artist reveals the expansiveness of nature and the smallness of human encroachment upon it. The book's meditative ambiance makes it a good choice for one-on-one sharing, but it may be a bit slow for group readings.?Jeanne Clancy Watkins, Upper Merion Township Library, King of Prussia, PA Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. Ages 5^-8. The universality and wonder of a rainfall is captured in this poetic book about an ordinary event. Five people experience the rain. An elderly man takes off his glasses and discovers how different everything looks in the rain. A man on the train remembers getting caught in a rainstorm as a child, while a woman at home gets out her watercolors. Two children walking through a forest throw pinecones and watch raindrops on a pond. Four of the five people are a family and gather in one of the last illustrations, drenched and laughing about the rain. The elderly man, seen from his apartment window, thinks, "No matter what happens . . . rain still makes a beautiful sound." Evocatively and handsomely illustrated, this is a book that is not only unusual in its omniscient point of view and alternating perspective but also joyful in its appreciation of nature. Shelley Townsend-Hudson