Downpour
Splish! Splash! Ker-Splash!
by Yuko Ohnari and Koshiro Hata
translated by Emily Balistrieri
Red Comet Press, 2025. Originally published in Japan in 2018. 36 pages.
Review written July 3, 2025, from a library book.
Starred Review
The onomatopoeia in the subtitle of this book foreshadows much to come. This is a picture book about a torrential rainstorm. The pictures and the wide variety of onomatopoeia used are incredibly evocative. As is the emotion on the boy’s face who’s caught in the rain.
And that’s what this story covers: A boy is caught in the rain. But this wife-husband pair of creators makes the book so much more than that.
It starts with burning hot pavement and a looming cloud. Then big, fat drops fall, bringing their own music and their own smells.
Then the sound of the rain takes over the book – except the boy doesn’t let that be the only thing, first noticing his umbrella is a drum, but then putting the umbrella aside to run, kick, and jump in the abundant puddles.
I love the way every picture takes a different angle on the boy and on the rain. We have how it looks as it hits, how it looks falling, and how the drops bounce off the child. We see everything sopping wet – and feel the great delight the boy feels in the whole experience.
This is one you need to pick up and see for yourself! A picture book about a joyful storm.
Find this review on Sonderbooks at: www.sonderbooks.com/Picture_Books/downpour.html
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Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but the views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.
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