Rating: *** 3 stars

Anne Faundez, illustrated by Karin Littlewood,
The Day the Rains Fell
Tamarind Books, 2010.

 Ages 5-8

This creation tale about how waterholes came to exist is told in a carefully structured language. Lindiwe, the creator, takes her daughter Thandi to visit Earth to check that the planet and all its creatures are happy. At first all seems well. We see Lindiwe and Thandi soaring with eagles, dancing with polar bears, swimming with fish and running with deer. In each instance they seem completely in tune with the movements of each animal, effectively captured by the illustrations. But as Lindiwe watches the sun rise over the plain, she sees before her a dry, dusty land with wilting trees and sad animals. And so she summons the rain. In order to collect it in the ground, she makes many different sized pots of clay and strides across the land, sinking them into the earth, ready to be filled whenever the rains come. Her daughter meanwhile has rolled small balls of clay into beads which the animals, grateful for the waterholes they have been given, colour for her to wear as a brightly patterned beaded necklace. Two end pages on clay pots and beads provide extra background information with a view to inspiring some project work, seemingly. The rich warm colours of the watercolour illustrations evoke the African landscape that is the backdrop for the story. A lovely book.

Urmi Chana
September 2010, No. 184

Guide to the rating system:
***** 5 stars, unmissable
**** 4 stars, very good
*** 3 stars, good
** 2 stars, fair
* 1 star, poor