Rain Fish

by Lois Ehlert, Lois Ehlert (Illustrator)

Overview

Get to know the “rain fish” that come to life during rainstorms in this gorgeous exploration of nature with vibrant collage artwork from the Caldecott Honor–winning illustrator of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

When blue sky turns gray and it rains all day, sometimes rain fish come out and play.
They swim among discards and debris. Do you see them, too? Or is it just me?

Through lyrical text and her incomparable mixed-media collage illustrations, Lois Ehlert introduces readers to “rain fish”—the varied, colorful, and unique little collections of materials that float along on streams of rain water during storms. From a scrap of newspaper with a seashell eye and feather smile to a piece of cardboard with an orange peel eye and a leaf for a fin, Ehlert’s rain fish come in all shapes and sizes.

Complete with an author’s note explaining how Ehlert collected the found materials she used to make the book over the course of a year, Rain Fish is a spirited celebration of imagination, creativity, and observing the world in your own way—and it invites you to discover your own rain fish.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481461528
Publisher:	Beach Lane Books
Publication date:	04/26/2016
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,083,139
Product dimensions:	7.10(w) x 12.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD340L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Lois Ehlert (1934–2021) illustrated numerous inventive, celebrated, and bestselling picture books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Mice, Ten Little Caterpillars, and her own Holey Moley, The Scraps Book, RRRalph, Lots of Spots, Boo to You!, Leaf Man, Snowballs, Waiting for Wings, Planting a Rainbow, Growing Vegetable Soup, and Color Zoo, which received a Caldecott Honor.

Lois Ehlert (1934–2021) illustrated numerous inventive, celebrated, and bestselling picture books, including Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, Mice, Ten Little Caterpillars, and her own Holey Moley, The Scraps Book, RRRalph, Lots of Spots, Boo to You!, Leaf Man, Snowballs, Waiting for Wings, Planting a Rainbow, Growing Vegetable Soup, and Color Zoo, which received a Caldecott Honor.

Editorial Reviews

A day of rain brings strange creatures into Ehlert’s world. Formed by wet bits of discarded paper, fall leaves, old socks, feathers, and other debris, they combine in elongated shapes that appear quite fishlike, often with a bottle cap or other round object for the eye. In Ehlert's imagination, these "rain fish" begin to take on lives of their own. “They love to splash in puddles / and dance upon concrete. / They gather in the gutters / and then swish on down the street.” The colloquial, rhyming text provides just enough guidance, drawing readers through the book while allowing them to enjoy the details as well as the overall effect of each picture. Ehlert has perfected her style of collage, with bold forms and a skillful, distinctive use of color, texture, and composition. Underscoring the book’s usefulness as a springboard to creative activities, an appended double-page spread features some of the found objects that became the illustrations’ rain fish
and provides brief identifiers of box top, concert ticket, fish bobber, leaf, twig, orange peel, paper, parking ticket, sand dollar, etc. With a smooth, flowing text and fish images that show up beautifully from a distance, this unusual picture book is a great read-aloud choice for a rainy day.

February 15, 2016 - Booklist *STARRED*

★ 02/01/2016
PreS-Gr 3—Found art supplies form suggestions of fish shapes while the text lyrically provides directions on how to make "rain fish" in this imaginative work by the master collage artist. Ehlert describes how the objects "hide in debris/until rain sets them free," thereby explaining how she finds materials. The ephemeral nature of the creations is emphasized by the instruction, "But you better look fast,/because rain fish don't last." The objects are found by chance, and the art made from them is open to interpretation. Children are invited to look beyond the items' original uses and explore what they see in the collage assortments. Vivid colors, varied textures, and expressive language inspire further contemplation. As an exploration of creativity and inventiveness, the book serves as a challenge to readers. What could they find to make their own rain fish? VERDICT An excellent addition to most collections, and especially valuable to libraries with budding found object artists.—Lucinda Snyder Whitehurst, St. Christopher's School, Richmond, VA

School Library Journal

2016-02-02
A short rhyming tale merges nature and debris to create art from remains of rainy days. When the day turns gray and rain starts to fall, "that's when rain fish come out and play." From found materials (fallen leaves and feathers and items clearly plucked from the recycling bucket and waste stream), images of fishes are created and depicted at play in the flowing gutters. Through Ehlert's distinctive collage illustrations and playful text, readers follow the life cycle of rain fishes and are encouraged to wonder where these fishes will go next. The book invites children to look closely at the waste they discard, prompting them to consider how orange peels, ticket stubs, cardboard, bottle caps, cans, and other garbage make their way to the stream—both the waste stream and Ehlert's fanciful rain-fed stream—and the role of humans in their creation. The collage illustrations of found materials are vivid, although they need to be seen from a distance for readers to truly appreciate them and see the rain fishes, making this ideal for storytime or classroom use. A list of images of discards and debris that were used for the illustrations is appended and should be useful for craft activities after a read-aloud of the book. This picture book and its lyrical text will make readers see fishes in unexpected places. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews