Eva and the Perfect Rain by Tatyana Feeney, O'Brien Press
Eva and the Perfect Rain is a charming story that evokes all the fun of being outdoors, no matter what the weather. Eva can’t wait to take her new umbrella for a walk but first she must eat her breakfast. Then a thunderstorm keeps her stuck inside. When the storm clears, Eva is finally free to jump in puddles and explore the bright and colourful rain-soaked world around her.
This story perfectly captures a childlike sense of wonder and celebrates the natural beauty that we often take for granted. The illustrations are an attractive mixture of line drawings, paint, print and collage. There’s an interesting use of pattern and all the different textures make turning the pages even more exciting for little readers.
My kids are especially fond of the bubble-wrap used in the sky and the sea. The youngest has also taken to saying, “I think this is the perfect rain,” whenever there's a shower. Eva is a wonderful character with a powerful imagination to whom children will easily relate. The story is cheerful and optimistic and demonstrates the significance of simple pleasures. Even the rain looks gorgeous and there are lots of pretty flowers and an adorable little frog (who hilariously admires his own reflection in a puddle).
We absolutely love the final scene which I won’t spoil. The map of Ireland in the endpapers showing where it’s raining is brilliant too. We enjoy finding places we recognise or pointing at where we think they might be. My kids also like to speculate on to whom the tails emerging from the puddles might belong. The entire book is a delight from start to finish and a fabulous tribute to a typical Irish day.
About the author-illustrator Tatyana Feeney grew up in North Carolina, where she spent much of her childhood reading and drawing. This developed into a love of art and particularly illustrations in children's books, so she gave up her ambition to be a fire girl and studied Art History and Illustration. Tatyana now lives in Trim with her husband and two children. She is the author and illustrator of Small Bunny's Blue Blanket, Little Owl's Orange Scarf, Little Frog's Tadpole Trouble, Socks for Mr Wolf, and Small Elephant's Bathtime. Tatyana has illustrated several books in the Panda series by O'Brien Press.
Eva and the Perfect Rain was published by O’Brien Press in hardback in February 2019 and in paperback in June 2021 – see this book on the publisher’s website
A huge thanks to the lovely people in O’Brien Press for sharing this book with us – all opinions expressed are our own.