REVIEW: IT'S STAY OUT OF THE SUN DAY!

​I have a suggestion for what you can do while you’re staying out of the sun today. Read a picture book all about a very soggy situation:

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​TITLE: SOAKED
AUTHOR/ILLUSTRATOR: Abi Cushman
PUBLISHER: Viking/2020
OPENING LINES: 
Look at all this rain. 
Everything is dreary.
Everything is drenched.
And no one is happy.
Not that badger. Not that bunny. Not that Hula-Hooping moose. And especially…
…not me.

A few years ago, I was viewing art at a children’s writing & illustrating conference, and I came across an image of a bear standing in the rain holding dripping wet ice cream cone. He looked miserable. And I fell in love. So, when I heard this image (and more) by Abi Cushman was going to be in a book, I squealed with delight. And now it’s here! This story is told from the point of view of a bear who is NOT happy about a rainy day (or anything, really). He spends a lot of time and energy wallowing in his misery and tries to take down all his woodland friends in the process. His friends do not have the same attitude and try to show Bear that he might be able to have some fun, even on a soaking wet day. Abi’s art is so expressive, you almost don’t need to read the text to appreciate the story (but you most certainly do need the art to tell the story—this is a true example of the marriage between art and text). This book has a miserable bear, a hula hooping moose, a cashmere sweater wearing rabbit, an umbrella toting badger, rain and more rain, and lot and lots of fun! I love SOAKED and I hope you will too!
 
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