(2) PS Purple rhino Gus, in his stripey pajamas, exuberantly greets mouse Sully: "What's the weather like today?" Sully speculates that it could be sunny, but Gus imagines himself with big droplets of sweat, and protests: "Phew! Too hot." Sully, meanwhile, imagines himself stretched out on a towel: "Mmmm. Toasty." The two go back and forth, thinking about weather that might be cloudy, snowy, foggy, or rainy. Each time, they have different responses to the type of weather, as when Gus loves the idea of flying a kite on a windy day, but Sully's kite blows away. The one kind of weather they agree on is the "beautiful" weather after the rain, with a rainbow stretching over them both. This brief board book has a very simple text but lots of playful humor, and small details to notice such as Sully's horizontal stripes and Gus's vertical ones. Light's (Black Bird Yellow Sun) watercolor illustrations use a mostly limited palette with yellows, purples, blues, and grays that seem to convey all of the different types of weather, with black pen-and-ink swirls and lines communicating motion. A good first look at all kinds of weather through the eyes of an engaging pair of friends.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2024

(2) PS Illustrated by Grant Snider. A reassuring text and upbeat illustrations get to the heart of our shared COVID-19 experience--gently acknowledging loss and uncertainty while offering a message of hope and resilience. Trinder's spare text leaves plenty of room for Snider's textured colored-pencil pictures to tell a story that's grounded in specifics--school on screens, masked neighbors--yet universal in feeling. On the title-page spread, a boy with brown skin and a yellow jacket approaches a girl with light skin and puffy orange pigtails. She waves as she draws with sidewalk chalk; he waves, too, and carries his own chalk. The text opens with a simple truth: "A story has a beginning and an end"; the illustration shows the two kids collaborating on a rainbow drawing. With a page-turn, the rain starts to fall, and the friends part ways. We next see the girl sitting alone on her front stoop, watching their rainbow wash away: "And there is something in between." The book's focus is on that "something": remote classrooms ("On the other side of a screen // there is a school"), signs of encouragement and support on sidewalks and in windows (including a BLM sign), neighbors helping neighbors, and essential workers on the job. There's also weariness and sadness: "On the other side of sadness // There are hugs." The boy and girl appear throughout in separate scenes until the final one, which shows them walking--unmasked! less than six feet apart!--into school. "On the other side of today // there is tomorrow." Trinder's compassionate words and Snider's vibrant art are just right for this moment.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2021

(1) K-3 Illustrated by Ekua Holmes. A young girl sits on her stoop contemplating the colors of the rainbow, then notes, "But my color is black...and there's no black in rainbows." There is, however, black in a crayon box, black in nature ("a feather in snow"), and black in fun ("the bottoms of summertime feet"). And the black of Black culture is rich indeed, as the succeeding pages show. The rhyming text uses familiar symbols and motifs (black-eyed peas, a cooking skillet "for bread to fry," blues music) as well as allusions to specific examples of African American art, music, poetry, and literature ("Black are the birds in cages that sing") to create a mosaic of a community and culture that survives and thrives. Holmes's illustrations use heavy lines and strong colors with soft touches of collage detail to represent everyday children as well as the iconic figures referenced in the text. Details in the back matter increase the book's value: there's a playlist; an explication of selected phrases ("Robe on Thurgood's Back"; "Dreams and Raisins"); several poems by Langston Hughes and Paul Laurence Dunbar; "A Timeline of Black Ethnonyms in America" (from Negro to black to Black); and a bibliography (for adults). A treasure trove of positivity, strength, and pride for anyone seeking to uplift and educate young people.

Reviewer: Autumn Allen | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2020

(2) PS Illustrated by Petr Horáček. A dried-up pond and a perceived lack of playmates have Duck in a grumpy mood. Though animals invite Duck to join in whatever they're doing, the cloud over increasingly aggravated Duck's head only grows larger and darker. The emotional discord pervades the atmosphere until an impressive rainstorm (with colorful raindrops) ensues. The vibrant art, boisterous animal sounds, and enjoyably predictable story line work well for both one-on-one reading and group sharing.

Reviewer: Julie Roach | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2019

(4) PS Illustrated by Anne Passchier. "Rainbows! / Every color means something." Following an interpretation of each stripe ("Red means life," "Orange is healing," etc.), an omniscient narrator concludes, "Rainbows sing out. / Be happy. Be love. Be proud." The text is uplifting but vague: to understand the book's LGBTQ+ message, young readers must rely on the illustrations, which show gay and lesbian couples delighting in their kids' company.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(2) K-3 Illustrated by Marion Arbona. In this inviting story, a boy jumping on his backyard trampoline sees the world from all-new perspectives. Vivid colors and vertical lines dominate the spreads of him jumping, juxtaposed with warm blues and swirling lines in the illustrations showing him, fantastically, suspended in the ether. A girl joins him on the trampoline; the last spread, in which they've jumped above a rainbow, bursts with color and exuberance.

Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: May, 2018

(3) K-3 Pebble Plus: Hands-On Science Fun series. With descriptive directions and large, clear photographs, each appealing volume takes readers step-by-step through a simple experiment then explains the science behind it. A few materials may be hard to find, and the target audience will need adult help, but the concrete examples lend themselves well to the concepts of liquid density (Rainbow), gases (Rocket), and molecules (Balloon). Additional content available through the Capstone 4D app. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Pebble Plus: Hands-On Science Fun titles: How to Build a Fizzy Rocket, How to Make a Liquid Rainbow, and How to Make a Mystery Smell Balloon.

Reviewer: Renée Wheeler

(4) PS Peppa and friends throw their own circus at Grandma Pig's backyard garden party (Circus). Peppa, her parents, and friend George have an Easter egg hunt and see a rainbow: "Look!...We found eggs in every color of the rainbow!" (Easter). Fans of the cartoon will be drawn to the familiar cheery illustrations and the thin, mildly entertaining stories adapted from the TV show. Review covers these titles: Peppa Pig and Backyard Circus and Peppa Pig and the Easter Egg Rainbow.

Reviewer: Katrina Hedeen

(4) K-3 Pebble Plus: Amazing Sights of the Sky series. Colorful photos illustrate descriptions of a rainbow, the colors in it, and how light is bent to form one; sundogs and double rainbows are briefly touched on. The simple, declarative sentences and eye-catching photographs make the topic accessible to primary-grade readers, but the final pages somewhat misleadingly imply that this phenomenon can be seen after any rainstorm. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind.

Reviewer: Janet Dawson

(4) PS Playing outside in a rainstorm, monster Declan and his bunny friends are chased into a cave by thunder and lightning. When the clouds part, they're greeted by a rainbow. Like its predecessor (Bunnies!!!), this slight story is full of relatable emotions. A text limited to about a dozen onomatopoetic or weather-relevant words ("PUDDLES!!! / Splash! Splash! Splash!") is paired with dramatic, stormy digital illustrations.

Reviewer: Rebecca Reed Whidden

(4) K-3 Everyday Earth Science series. Each volume asks and answers three or four questions about earth science, from straightforward ("What Is a Cloud?") to potentially complex ("What Is Light?"). None of the answers, however, moves beyond the simplest definition. The accompanying photographs and diagrams vary in quality; some help explain the concepts, while others are merely decorative. A hands-on activity is included in each book. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Everyday Earth Science titles: What Makes It Rain?, What Is the Difference Between Clouds and Fog?, What Causes a Rainbow?, What Makes the Sky Blue?, What Is a Solstice?, and Why Does Earth Have Seasons?

Reviewer: Danielle J. Ford

(4) PS Illustrated by Sanja Rešček. After Monkey finds a rainbow, he carries it to his animal friends, not realizing that the rainbow is extracting color: eventually, "the entire rain forest was gray!" Chandler spells out the moral--the perils of greed--on high volume, but the fluffy art offers a nice final touch: when color is restored, the animals have brand-new hues. Suggestions for adults are appended.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(4) K-3 I Like to Read series. A little girl and her cat embark on a quest to find the end of the rainbow, joined by other animals along the way. They ultimately find something even better: new friends. There's not much to the story, but simple, very repetitive text and friendly pen-and-ink and watercolor illustrations make this a suitable choice for beginning readers.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(2) PS Illustrated by G. Brian Karas. Bluemle uses rhymes and rhythms to convey sudden changes in weather: "Sky grumbles. / Rain tumbles..." Collage illustrations show city-dwellers of all ethnicities, ages, and sizes hustling down to the subway to wait out the storm. Karas's pictures combine painting, drawing, and photographs to show the grit, energy, and beauty of the urban scene and its amusingly quirky people.

Reviewer: Susan Dove Lempke | Horn Book Magazine Issue: March, 2014

(3) K-3 I Am a Reader! series. Illustrated by Josée Masse. This latest early reader featuring Frog and his pond companions contains two vignettes. In the first, the friends are fascinated by a rainbow and determined to find the gold that little Jumping Mouse says is at the end. Next, a fisherman invades the pond; will Frog have to leave his home? Bright illustrations help the reader make predictions and inferences about the accessible stories.

Reviewer: Kari Allen

(3) K-3 A carpenter ant makes a hole from inside its tree stump; the colors it--and readers--see through the holes reinforce the (unfounded) fear that there's an aardvark on the other side ("an orange aardvark...wearing blue pajamas!"). The witty digital art, incorporating painted textures and torn paper, keeps pace with the ant's cumulatively wilder assumptions, which are swallowed by its gullible ant friends.

Reviewer: Nell Beram

(1) K-3 Toon Book series. Matilda teaches her little sister Clemmie how to catch raindrops on her tongue, jump in puddles, and search for worms, as pictured in the panels of this early-reader comic. Amidst her excitement, Matilda releases Clemmie's precious red birthday balloon into the sky. It's a tender, accurate depiction of sister dynamics, and Liniers's multihued cartoon drawings capture the siblings' distinct, expressive personalities.

Reviewer: Cynthia K. Ritter | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2013

(4) PS Guess How Much I Love You series. In these stories based on episodes of the animated Nick Jr. TV show (itself based on the bestselling Guess How Much I Love You book franchise), Nutbrown Hares Little and Big have small weather-related adventures with their forest animal friends. The illustrations are a fair approximation of Anita Jeram's, without the softness and subtlety. The simple episodes are sweet if forgettable. Review covers these Guess How Much I Love You titles: After the Storm and Snow Magic.

Reviewer: Kitty Flynn

(4) PS Bunny Chester decorates six eggs in different colors and hides them for his friends; they each find their egg and come together for an Easter surprise. Mostly a lesson on colors of the rainbow, there's very little tension in the slim plot, but young readers will enjoy spotting the eggs, cleverly camouflaged in their hiding spots. The homey collage illustrations have impressive dimension.

Reviewer: Brittany Schlorff

(4) K-3 Elmer the patchwork elephant sets out to help a rainbow find its colors. The other animals are afraid that Elmer will lose his own, but of course selflessness wins the day. There's not a lot of tension to the story, but the pacing--and the lively rainbow-hued illustrations--will likely keep readers' attention.

Reviewer: Brittany Schlorff