A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 337

Picture Book: What Makes a Rainbow?

Author: Betty Ann Schwartz

Illustrator: Dona Turner

Summary: After a rainstorm, Little Rabbit’s mother says that soon they will see a rainbow. Little Rabbit asks the title question, and a series of animals help his mother explain. This is a Magic Ribbon Book which means that as you turn the page, a ribbon of a particular color drapes across the double page spread. In this case, ribbons of the colors of the rainbow are revealed each page turn. The book ends with Little Rabbit declaring the 3 things needed for a rainbow: rain, colors, and sunshine.

Hanna’s Comments: If this book is too immature for your audience, you’ll find lots of books about rainbows in the library some of which will emphasize the science behind the phenomenon which is always a nice addition to a lesson for children. You might want to teach the children in your audience the song, I Can Sing a Rainbow which is available on ITunes. This author and illustrator have another Magic Ribbon Book which you may want to consider. It’s called What Makes Music?

Original Publisher & Date of Publication: Piggy Toes Press, 2000

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 2 and up, Toddler and up

# of Pages: 14 

Available in Spanish? Not at present

Formats other than Book: None at present, but you’ll find plenty of videos on Youtube.com on how a rainbow is made or describing how to do a science experiment about rainbows or light refraction. 

PBT Category: Post 2K

PBT Topics this Book connects with: ancestors/patriarchs & matriarchs, attentiveness/observation/seeing, awe, beauty, covenant/promises/vows, the environment/nature, God’s presence, heaven/sky, light/morning, rain, rainbows, water, wonder

Scripture Connections: God said this is the sign of the covenant between me and you… I have set my bow in the cloud…. (Genesis 9:12-13) 

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to a group of children who are learning about signs of God’s covenant or the story of Noah and the Ark.   

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 144

Picture Book: The Blue Day Book for Kids: A Lesson in Cheering Yourself Up

Author & Photographer: Bradley Trevor Greive

Summary: This book is comprised of the author’s poignant and often funny animal photographs. The captions encourage children to consider when you have a “blue day,” a day when nothing goes as it should. The author has readers reflect on all the feelings that accompany those days while offering some simple strategies for dealing with those emotions in order to get past a blue day.

Hanna’s Comments: Based on a successful adult book published in 2000, these endearing photographs really will bring a smile to someone who is feeling blue. More importantly, it offers the opportunity for children to explore and identify feelings no matter what kind of day they are having. Building this kind of emotional intelligence in our children is always a constructive activity. In a religious community, you have the added benefit of offering the comfort and hope that your faith tradition offers. Because of this book, that conversation will likely be sprinkled with some giggles and awes.

Publisher & Date of Publication: Andrew McMeel Publishing, 2005

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 2 and up, toddler and up

# of Pages: 48

Available in Spanish? Not at present

Formats other than Book: None at present

PBT Category: Non-fiction

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: animals, brokenness, depression/despair/sadness/sorrow, comfort, covenant/promises/vows, emotions/feelings, lamentations, prayer, problems/problem solving, reflection

Scripture Connections: The Lord is near to the brokenhearted (Psalm 34:18); cast your burdens on the Lord (Psalm 55:22); comfort, comfort my people (Isaiah 40:1); let not your hearts be troubled (John 14:1)

Idea(s) for Application: Children need specific models for prayer. Use this book and the situations if offers as starting points for demonstrating specific prayer practices and assurance that God has promised to comfort us. For children, this might feel safer and be more light-hearted than digging into a difficult, emotionally heavy situation. 

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 139

Dynamic Duo: Book 1

Picture Book: Planting a Rainbow

Author & Illustrator: Lois Ehlert

Summary: This book begins, “Every year Mom and I plant a rainbow.” At first the reader sees the flower bulbs. Each bulb is labeled with the common plant name and color. For each planting, there is a side view that depicts the underground perspective as well as the above ground. Seeds are ordered from catalogs, but they have to be planted later. Once the bulbs start to sprout in spring, it’s time to go to the garden center for seedlings. The seeds and seedlings are planted with their colorful labels displayed. Once the plants have grown to their rainbow beauty, Ms. Ehlert offers one of her trademarks. She uses varying sizes of pages to depict the rainbow of plants that has bloomed. Each color category offers the labeled plants. The book ends with, “All summer long we pick them and bring them home. (A beautiful bouquet is shown.) And when summer is over, we know we can grow our rainbow again next year.”  

Hanna’s Comments: Although Ms. Ehlert’s illustrations are simplistic, they are vibrant and educational. You’ll see a similar style in tomorrow’s PBT offering, another book from this author/illustrator. Here she explicitly teaches by conveying the general form of each kind of bulb, blossom, leaf, and even seed. I wish I had this book when I was a child because my knowledge of flowers is so limited. Consider using this book in a botany lesson for young children. In a homeschool or private school, use this book to start a conversation about God’s creative diversity or the rainbow as a sign of God’s covenant with us. I've written a children's Sunday school lesson about Diversity that incorporates this book. Let me know if you want to purchase it for just $5. 

Publisher & Date of Publication: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1988

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

# of Pages: 40

Available in Spanish? Yes

Formats other than Book: Tablet, in the video collection: The Curious Garden and more Stories about Nature, Audible

PBT Category: Pre 2K

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: abundance/bounty, awe, beauty, beginnings/morning, blessings, body of Christ, change, covenant/promises/vows, creation, differences, diversity, eggs/seeds, the environment/nature, faith/faithfulness, flowers/leaves/trees, gardening/planting/pruning/sowing, God’s nature, growing up/growth, hope, land/mountains/soil, life, rainbows, time/over time, transformation, treasure, variety

Scripture Connections: This (rainbow) is the sign of the covenant that I make between me and you and every living creature (Genesis 9:12-13)

Idea(s) for Application: With God’s promise of covenant comes assurance that certain scientific laws will always hold true. When we plant a seed, whether literal or metaphorical, we expect and hope for good things to happen while we wait. Tie this idea to the good we do for others and how our faith, hope, and tender care builds relationships that create a more loving faith community and beautiful world. The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss (PBT offering on Day 130) is another book you might want to use for this lesson.

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 107

Picture Book: Aunt Mary’s Rose

Author: Douglas Wood

Illustrator: LeUyen Pham

Summary: This is a story from the author’s childhood. When he was a child, Douglas Wood’s Aunt Mary encouraged him to tend the family’s rosebush, explaining that a little bit of Douglas, his daddy, and his grandfather were inside it. The child’s confusion leads Aunt Mary to tell the story of the arrival of the rose bush and how it had witnessed key events of their family. It witnessed the arrival of Douglas' father and uncle, 2 orphans which the family adopted. The rose bush was so dear that it was transplanted in town to the small yard that replaced their farm during the Great Depression. As the stories build, Douglas begins to understand the importance of tending this beautiful plant as a ritual of familial ties, love, pride, and beauty.

Hanna’s Comments: Recently I had the privilege of experiencing a beautiful rose walk at Lake Junaluska in North Carolina. The roses were both delicate and hearty, in full bloom and budding. I was reminded of this picture book which is such a beautiful illustration of the importance of tending, family loyalty, and endurance.

Any sort of gardening is a beautiful metaphor for faith. The book below is another book about a rose bush.

Wanda's Roses by Pat Brisson and Maryann Cocca-Leffler highlights a girl's determination to nurture a thorn bush in a vacant lot. She is sure it is a rose bush. She, and eventually some neighbors, clean up the lot. Throughout her many days of faithful hard work, Wanda keeps saying to naysayers the lot will be filled with roses. Wanda is right!

Publisher & Date of Publication: Candlewick, 2010

Age & Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up

# of Pages: 32

Available in Spanish? Not at present

Formats other than Book: audio CD

PBT Category: Non-fiction, Post 2K

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: action, affection, ancestors/patriarchs & matriarchs, beauty, belonging, bonds/connections, caring/tending, care of creation, change, commitment, communion/Eucharist, covenant/promises/vows, death/loss/grief, dependence/interdependence, the environment/nature, faith/faithfulness, family, flowers/leaves/trees, gardening/planting/pruning/sowing, God’s care/providence, God’s nature, God’s presence, grandparents, growing up/growth, helping, heritage, holiness, home, image of God, labor/work, memories/remembering/ritual/tradition, mentors/teachers, milestones, mothers, nurturing, orphans, parents/parental love, participation, reverence, satisfaction, steadfastness, survival, time/timing/over time, treasure, unity

Scripture Connections: A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children (Proverbs 13:22); being rooted and grounded in love (Ephesians 3:17)

Idea(s) for Application: Consider sharing this story with a small group in your religious community who need to explore your inheritance: the rituals, traditions, and stories that you all hold dear. Talk about tending as a spiritual practice. 

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Day 49

Dynamic Duo: Book 2

Picture Book: Miss Rumphius

Author & Illustrator: Barbara Cooney

Summary: Since she was a young girl Miss Rumphius, aka the Lupine Lady, has been inspired by the way her grandfather traveled the world, lived by the sea, and made the world more beautiful. For Miss Rumphius, the latter is lived out as she scatters countless lupine seeds.

Hanna’s Comments: This book is a Dynamic Duo partner with The Gardener, the previous PBT offering. These 2 books are both about lovingly spreading beauty and joy with flowers. The lupine blooms along the Maine coast today are the legacy of a real Miss Rumphius who scattered the seeds everywhere she went. The concept of “legacy” would be a wonderful idea to explore when reading this book to your audience. 

Publisher & Date of Publication: Puffin, 1982 

Age and Grade Appropriateness: 5 and up, K and up 

# of Pages: 32 

Available in Spanish? Yes 

Formats other than Book: Audio cassette, Audible, video on Youtube

PBT Category: Award Winner (American Book Award), Pre 2K

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: abundance/bounty, action, adventure, aging, ancestors/patriarchs & matriarchs, beauty, blessings, call/calling/vocation, challenges, covenant/promises, diversity, dreams/aspirations, eggs/seeds, exploration, flowers/leaves/trees, gardening/planting/pruning/sowing, generosity/giving/offering/stewardship, gifts/giftedness/talents, gladness/happiness, goodness, gospel/good news, grandparents, growing up/growth, heritage, heroes, home, image of God, journeys/pilgrimages/migration/quests, joy, life, mission, neighborhood, power, purpose, satisfaction, sharing, surprise, time/timing/over time, transformation, travel

Scripture Connections: Parable of the mustard seed (Luke 13:18-19) and other seed parables, whoever sows bountifully (2 Corinthians 9:6)

Idea(s) for Application: use in a program on legacies for those in a faith community who are retired

A Picture Book a Day for a Year: Book 33

Picture Book: He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands
 
Illustrator: Kadir Nelson

Summary: This popular American spiritual and favorite song for children to sing is beautifully illustrated by one of my favorite picture book artists. He captures a loving family along with children’s drawings. This picture book celebrates God’s care and God's gift of the natural world. Nelson states that he wished to portray the world as a child might see it, vast and beautiful.

Hanna’s Comments: Kadir Nelson offers a historical note about this well-known spiritual and includes the score. The text is a little different from the words you may be used to singing which allows for some stunning illustrations. 
He includes:
He's got my brothers and my sisters...
He's got the rivers and the mountains...
He's got you and he's got me...

Publisher & Date of Publication: Dial, 2005 

Age and Grade Appropriateness: 4 and up, Pre and up 

# of Pages: 32 

Available in Spanish? Not at present 

Formats other than Book: Audible, Video, Youtube videos of other versions of this song  

PBT Category: Song Book

PBT Topics this Book Connects with: abundance/bounty, adoration, awe, babies/children, choir/music/singing/songs, comfort, confidence, covenant/promises, Earth/world, faith/faithfulness, God’s presence, hope, manna, reassurance, safety, safe place/sanctuary, security, strength/strength in God, trust/trustworthiness 

Scripture Connections: When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers (Psalm 8:3); The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1); For those who love God all things work together for good (Romans 8:28); For by him all things were created (Colossians 1:16)

Idea(s) for Application: Read this book to accompany a lesson on God’s gift of creation, especially its diversity and God’s loving care.