A RAINY DAY

Going beyond the usual water-cycle recapitulation, a well- regarded science author relays information a gifted parent or teacher might share on a walk in the rain: how oily feathers keep wet ducks comfortable while most animals shelter in dry places; why earthworms come out and what they do on the surface (sometimes seek a mate); what happens when a corrugated box gets wet; the reason for an umbrella's shape; the several places water may go after the rain stops; and more. Naturally organized around a raincoated child in a single shower, the simple text does more than assemble a few largely self-evident facts: it demonstrates the rewards of curious observation and finding out why things behave as they do. In her first children's book, science- illustrator Johnson nicely extends the information with impressionistic watercolors that beautifully evoke the rainy ambience and focus more specifically on details like a frog, or a cross-section showing roots and the passage of groundwater. An excellent concept book. (Nonfiction/Picture book. 4-8)