Rain Before Rainbows

Rain before rainbows, clouds before sun. Night before daybreak: the old day is done.

A little girl travels through perilous landscapes, meeting dangerous dragons in a dark forest and navigating treacherous seas. Yet, when she finds land, kind and wise animals guide her through a sunlit woodland to the sun dawning overhead. The girl builds a shelter in the woodland and knows that the future is bright, and the worst is behind her.

A luminous book to help children at difficult times, Rain Before Rainbows has a simple rhyming text that reminds the reader that, despite the difficulties life can bring, there is always light on the horizon and the promise of a better day. Importantly, too, that others can help – when the little girl finds her animal guides in the forest, she reminds us that there are experts and wise ones who can help us. People who may have experienced the thing we are before now.

To accompany Halls’ poignant text, illustrator David Litchfield’s light filled illustration seems to burst from the page in growing intensity as the pages turn: even on the darker pages, the colours are rich and vibrant. It’s also good to note that the scary things are mistily not quite in reach, and yet when the little girl finds comfort, it’s on the grounded earth of nature – a good lesson for us all.