A Totally Big Umbrella

About this book

Tallulah is playing with her friends when she suddenly gets soaked with rain. Worse, the rain makes her biscuits all mushy. Startled and scared, Tallulah goes inside to ask her grandma for an umbrella.  

When she goes back outside, the rain has stopped and it’s a bright day, but Tallulah holds on to her umbrella tightly nonetheless. She takes it with her everywhere she goes, in the event that it rains again. 

She even gets Grandma to give her a bigger umbrella, and when that’s not enough, she makes a big umbrella tent to hide inside at Grandma’s party. 

Yet, when it starts raining at Grandma’s party, Tallulah is amazed to see that no one wants to hide with her inside her umbrella tent. Everyone continues to have a good time, eating cake and jumping on the bouncy castle. Finally, Tallulah ventures out and enjoys herself, and realises that she doesn’t need her umbrella anymore. 

This beautiful, sensitive picture book from an award-winning team of writer Sarah Crossan and illustrator Rebecca Cobb is a lovely exploration of what happens when we feel anxious. 

Tallulah tries to combat her anxiety with measures designed to protect herself, but they end up making her feel isolated and sad. Instead, the best way back to happiness is by surrounding herself with her loved ones. 

Cobb’s soft illustration style is perfect for this kind of introspective book, with quirky characters and a lovely use of language.