It's Raining Bats & Frogs

Reviewed by: Sheila Dube - Springvale Public Library, Springvale, Southern Maine Library District

Review Date: February 8, 2016

Review

This picture book will be perfect for the Halloween-themed story time or young reader interested in friendly witches. Delia, a young green-skinned broom-flying witch, looks forward to the yearly Witch Parade. This year it begins to rain making it "wet and miserable". Delia solves the problem by chanting and changing the drops to cats and dogs. After the first delight with the animals, the other witches begin to complain. Using the same chant, Delia changes the cats and dogs to hats and clogs with the same results. Bats and frog are not successful either and she has to brainstorm other rhyming ideas. In the end, Delia changes everything back to rain and the parade makes the most of the flood. Henry's muted green and brown color palette matches the storm setting. The witches have expression and various personalities as they all fly around on their brooms. Most of the text, except for the last few pages of the story, is printed in a stripe of white space at the bottom of each page with the exclamations of the witches appearing in white dialogue bubble, making it easy to read in a large group setting. Useful for preschools and parents focused on supporting the skill of rhyming words.

Overall Book Score: very good