THB Book Review of The Raindrop by Brian D. McClure

I was recently asked by The Cadence Group to review a new book titled "The Raindrop" in exchange for a free copy! What a deal, wouldn't you say? I love sharing book reviews with my readers, so I was completely on board for this assignment.

My 7 year old daughter was first to read the book and in fact grabbed it from my desk only minutes after I took it from the manila mailing envelope. She was quick to share that she especially loved the beautiful artwork created by illustrator Buddy Plumlee. The sad looking raindrop on the cover gave her immediate concern and sympathy before she even opened the book... she wondered why he was so down.

Turns out the raindrop is suffering from the all too familiar feeling of  low self-esteem. He feels he has no worth or value in the world. As he falls from sky to earth, there seems to be no point in the journey and no hope for a purposeful conclusion. Overhearing his moaning, a cloud tries to convince him that despite his small size, he's part of the water system and should be proud of the life giving role he plays. Caught up in his feelings of worthlessness he hears nothing the cloud had to say and continues on his way towards a very dry and thirsty ground that will soon swallow him up.

From that point on... the raindrop has a few life changing adventures, from traveling through the ground, being shot out a garden hose, being absorbed into the stalk and leaf of a plant and eventually experiences the joy of evaporation, as he travels back towards the sky where he'd be free to relive his amazing journey again. Upon finding his way back to the sky, the raindrop hears the depressing moans of a cloud sharing his lack of worth in the world, to which a happy raindrop shares the joy and purpose of being part of the life giving water system.

The book concludes with a message for the young reader... that he/she is a great gift to the world, connected to and a part of the world as a whole. It's a book about purpose, community, and feeling good about who you are!

This is a fun, rhyming book with beautiful illustrations and a lesson readers of all ages will appreciate. My 7 year old daughter and yours truly recommend this book and give it 10 fingers out of a possible 10 fingers! lol My little girl even gave it a few toes. :)

Happy reading! If you'd like to order the book for yourself or your favorite little reader, click on the storybook photo at the start of this post. :o)