Umbrella

Rating:
Summary: An excellent read aloud
Review: This is a sweet story that both my 3 year old daughter and I love. The ending chokes me up every time I read it. My daughter loves the rhythm of the rain falling on Momo's umbrella: Pon polo, pon polo, polo polo pon polo.

Rating:
Summary: A story about patience and growing independence
Review: This was my favorite book when I was a little girl! When I had my daughter, I began looking for it, but I couldn't remember the author's name. After all, as a child, who wrote the book didn't really matter to me. I vividly remembered the clean Japanese-style drawings, and the beautiful, rythmic song of the rain falling on Momo's umbrella. Then, my mother brought out a box of my old books. There it was! Well-worn, and well-loved. Now as a mother, I also remember that this book was one of a number of beautiful multicultural books that came out in the late '60s and early '70s. They were a pretty new thing when I was growing up. Having a multicultural family, I don't take that for granted. And now, being the storyteller, I'm enjoying this book all over again, feeling both pride - and a little sadness - as my little bird takes off in flight, and soars a little higher each day.