It started as a very stormy day for Tabitha.
Title: Tabitha and the Raincloud
Author: Devon Sillett
Illustrator: Melissa Johns
ISBN: 9781925820133 (hardcover) Language: English
Publisher: EKBooks
Classification: Fiction
Type: Picture Book
Themes: emotional regulation, feelings, anger management, optimism
What's it about?
When Tabitha wakes up on the wrong side of the bed, she finds a big raincloud next to her. She tells it to go away, but it won’t budge. At school, she tries to draw a giraffe, but the raincloud distracts her and her art teacher compliments her on her dinosaur! By lunchtime, Tabitha is so stormy none of her friends want to sit next to her. Tabitha realises she needs to change her attitude.
Embrace
This book is a quick read suitable for younger children. The illustrations are a delightful combination of paint and collage. Font choice is also clear and large enough to be read while holding it.
Beware
None today.
My Thoughts
This is a new 2020 release from EK Books; it released on March 1st (yep, I'm a little behind but trying to catch up!)
I think everyone (adults included) can empathise with Tabitha waking up in a bad mood. We've all been there and it really is about trying to turn it around to a better day, but that is also much easier said than done. Such is the case with Tabitha, who wakes up with this dark raincloud over her head and everything is bad - the soggy breakfast, the giraffe mistaken as a dinosaur in art class, the tripping over her own feet and missing out on her favourite book. Yep, poor Tabitha is having a grumpy day. The story culminates with Tabitha getting the toy she wanted but being all alone to play with it and she knows that isn't what she wanted.
SO SHE TURNS IT AROUND
Instead of the raincloud being a horrible thing, she now makes a choice to look at it positively. She remembers how much fun it is to play in the rain, to jump in puddles. This makes her feel happier and happier and slowly the other children come to play with her too. The raincloud disappearing.
I think young children especially, those still in that 5-8-year-old range that are trying to moderate their emotions, would really benefit from this book. It's a great example of how you can take something bad and turn it around - nothing is unsolvable, but first, you need to try.
Definitely one for feelings units at the beginning of the year. It would be interesting to see an activity that looks at the types of rainclouds - from fluffy ones to stormy ones as perhaps a way of showing that bad moods can vary as well - which could explore additional emotions as well.
And what kid wouldn't want to do something to do with jumping in puddles as well! It's a yes for the classroom shelf from me.
Please remember that EKBooks provides free teacher notes on their website as well. You can grab them by clicking HERE.
Special thanks to EKBooks for the ARC.
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