BLUE ON BLUE by Dianne White

Soon it will be April and I'll be pulling out my folder for my favorite rainy day stories in preparation for a library storytime or an outreach storytime at any one of a number of community preschools and day care sites.  A new picture book is a perfect addition to toddler and preschool storytimes and for any parent whose child might be fearful of a thunderstorm.  Blue on Blue is Dianne White's first book.  It is written in a rhyming text that is short and sweet.  The book depicts a day that is bright and beautiful until a storm comes along with rain, thunder, and lightning.  By late afternoon the little girl takes her umbrella outside and the sun peeks out from behind the rain clouds.  The dogs go outside to play and the pigs roll happily in the mud.  The mother and baby watch the sunset, the father washes the dogs in the trough, and finally it is time to go back inside for a bath and bedtime.  How fortunate for a first-time author to be paired with the Caldecott Award winner illustrator, Beth Krommes.  As in The House in the Night, Krommes employs the technique of scratchboard and watercolor to create realistic, detailed artwork that is within the realm of a young child's understanding of the world.  Each beautiful spread has familiar objects in each scene depicted.  By the front door we see a red tricycle, a jump rope, an umbrella stand, a basket of laundry and a bag of clothespins, a ball, and a cat looking in while the puppy looks out.  Those same objects are later seen in another image outside.  The father tills the soil from a distance with the horses out in the field, and then drives the tractor into the barn and rounds up the horses while his daughter hides with her doggie under the covers upstairs in her bed.  Turtles, ducks, flowers, lightning bugs, stars, and a toad are other things that will be fun for a small child to point out when the story is shared with an adult.  What a happy combination of story and illustrations that mesh together beautifully.  Enjoy!