Think book had pretty illustrations. I relate the the girl waiting for the rain because it seems like it hasn't rained in awhile. I also love the rain.

Monsoon is a children’s fiction book written by Uma Krishnaswami and illustrated by Jamel Akib. It would be suitable for children of all ages -it could be used for a read aloud with younger ages or as an independent reading book for ages 6-8. This book is about a young girl and her family waiting for the arrival of the monsoon rains in their home country of India. I was able to learn a lot about monsoons that I did not know before! I liked this book because of the poetic writing. There is a lot of rhyming throughout the book and the flow is paced well. The rains are appreciated and also feared, the book has some suspension as everyone waits for them to arrive. I also liked this book because of its illustrations. The pictures in this book are done in very warm color that enhances the mood of the story. You can feel the warmth of the Indian sun and the hot winds through the soft images that show colors of warm orange, red, yellow, brown and soft blues. Once the rain comes, the image shows people happy and the parents place a coin at Ganesh, god of beginnings. I loved learning more about monsoons and Indian culture through the words and images of this beautiful book. I like that it has blurb in the back of the book on information about monsoons and that it incorporates words they use in their country throughout.

I liked reading this book for several reasons. First, I enjoyed being taken on a journey through a typical, mundane-like anticipatory occurrence in the northern Indian culture. For example, it begins describing the weather in a manner children would be griping and complaining with their families about. The story begins by stating, “All summer we have worn the scent of dust— gravelly, grainy, gritty dust…” to then have the father share, “When the monsoon rains arrive, they’ll wash this dust away,” which clearly shares they desperately want the rains to come. Another reason is that is intertwines some Hindi words in the text like “loo” for describing “the hot wind that blows through northern India in summer, before rainy season,” and “neem” which is a tree in the mahogany family that contains leaves and fruit, commonly used for medicine and farming. Finally, the end of the book contains more in-depth information about monsoons. This book could be used in a science unit to talk about weather like severe storms. ( )

This is a story about an Indian family who is preparing for the monsoon season to arrive. The beauty in this book comes from the pictures that vividly help the reader experience the culture of India. The text includes a glossary of Hindi words at the beginning of the book and an explanation about monsoons at the end. ( )

There are several reasons why I enjoyed reading this story. The first reason why is because of the illustrations. Without even turning the first page, I am able to visualize a powerful monsoon from the title, though to my surprise the illustrations depicted many other happenings. For example, the commotion within the city streets, the marketplace, and the different weather patterns were all beautifully illustrated before the monsoon arrival was illustrated. Through the vivid watercolors, I was able to see just how chaotic urban India becomes, when expecting the arrival of a monsoon. The second reason why I enjoyed this story is because of the informational plot. Although this book was written for children, I found myself learning new information about monsoons on every page. For example, at the end of the book the author explains that monsoons come at different times of the year and in different directions depending on which part of India a person lives. I also always thought that monsoons where an event that was dreaded, though in this story I learned that they are very much needed for survival and economical growth in certain parts of the world. The main idea to this story is patience. The entire city was anxiously awaiting the arrival of the monsoon, though they all knew it would come when it was ready to. The children and adults remained patient for its arrival. ( )