Burton Elementary: "Here Comes the Rain!" by Renée Simons Berry

This week at Burton we read a book that is new to our library, called "Here Comes the Rain!", written by author Renée Simons Berry and illustrated by artist Lusine Khandilyan. This is a short rhyming text, and with many classes we ended up spending more time talking about the story than it took for me to read the story! That is because, despite being a short book, there is a lot to unpack in this sweet story.

The matter of hairstyles, and associated questions of beauty and societal standards, bring up a lot of feelings for many people. Girls (and boys) with afro-textured hair are often made to feel self-conscious about their natural curls from a young age. Don't be timid about giving students a chance to voice any feelings they have after reading this story (but also take care not to make any student feel singled out or like they have to have something to say about the story). Very young students (particularly those without curly hair) might not understand the message of the story unless you talk them through it, but make sure all students understand that the story is telling us that all kinds of hairstyles (and people) are beautiful. The lovely illustrations portray this in a wonderful way.

One of the many pleasures of being a librarian is adding books to your collection that are not the mainstream well-known titles from very famous authors. A book that is not found in many bookstores (or any bookstores) can make for a uniquely special collection. In a school library with these kinds of books, children can be exposed not only to the 'classics' and the popular books of our times, but to unique voices, perspectives, and sources of literary culture. I am so grateful that a friend of the author donated this special book to our school library! Thank you! Hopefully many students will find and enjoy this book in our library for years to come.

- Dennis de Boer