Hi, my name is Sheryl McFarlane and I’m the author of seventeen books for kids. My newest is Welcome Rain!, a picture book about the joys, benefits and sometimes… the challenges of rain. It’s illustrated by the very talented Christine Wei and published by Greystone Books. One day in the spring a few years ago I was looking after my grandchildren on a very, very rainy day — the kind of day where people stay inside. But not us! I had dogs, so we go out for walks even during the wettest weather. Of course there were lots of puddles, and my grandkids insisted on jumping in every single one of them! But since we all had our boots on and my grandkids had their rain suits on, and I had my umbrella, and my little dogs Ruby and Karl had their raincoats on, we stayed nice and dry! Best of all, we had so much fun! When we got home, I started thinking about rain, and how much we rely on it… not just for puddles to jump in. The water for my cup of tea, the water for the noodles I used to make my grandchildren’s lunch, the water for washing up… all of that water comes from our local water reservoir which is fed by rain and snow melt. Later, the younger children and I walked over to pick up their sister at school. It had stopped raining. We walked the creek path which we’re so lucky to have nearby. The creek is home to ducks, frogs, and salmon fry raised and released each year by local schools, including the one my granddaughter attends. The youngest stopped to marvel at drops of water sparkling in a spider web strung between the branches of a bush. The robbins and chickadees were out in full force snapping up worms that come up from the earth after it rains. Suddenly all of the song birds that had been feeding, made a noisy and abrupt exit. At first I thought we might have scared the birds away, but we spotted a Cooper’s hawk flying away. It had been using the wet weather to try to score an easy songbird meal! After my grandchildren went home, I didn’t bother making dinner. Instead, I started writing… I knew I had the beginnings of a new book. And I knew I wanted it to be about rain; not just about the joy of jumping in puddles. I wanted to write a story about how important rain is to all of us. And because I grew up in Arizona—where it can be very dry—I also wanted it to be about missing rain when it isn’t there. Illustration from Welcome, Rain! This is how it works for me…I don’t write every day, but once a story stirs, there is no stopping it from coming out.
That evening, my husband took the dogs out for their walk. I was busy writing Welcome, Rain! Sheryl lives in Victoria. BC where she enjoys splashing in puddles with her grandchildren and the rainy days she does not have to water her garden. www.sherylmcfarlane.ca Comments are closed.
|
Picture Books, Eh!We write, illustrate and support Canadian, and we're releasing picture books in 2024! Follow us for news on Canadian PBs, regular blogs by Canadian PB creators, and more. |