The King Who Rained

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Pokes gentle fun at an idioms and homonyms.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

Find out more

Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Parents say

Not yet rated

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that there is nothing of concern in this book that pokes fun at idioms and homonyms.


What's the story?

Fred Gwynne's visual puns on some of our language's homonyms and idioms are playful, but they do feel a bit tired: How many times are we going to be able to jump-start a laugh at a fork in the road being pictured as just that? Gwynne's artwork has a slapdash cuteness.

Each two-page spread pokes gentle fun at an idiom, homonym, or word use that runs counter to its literal meaning. Thus we have a reference to a king who rained, a (table) fork in the road, and references to holding up a bridal (locomotive) train, plus a literal frog in the throat, as well as bear feet and foot prince, all turned on their merry heads by Gwynne's direct, comical artwork.


Is it any good?

 

Fred Gwynne hits on some new material here with tricks of pronunciation -- "foot prince in the snow" -- but otherwise he travels over the old terrain of idioms and homonyms that was better mined by Remy Charlip in Arm and Arm: A Collection of Connections, Endless Tales, Reiterations, and Other Echoalia. While repetition can give a book a warm sense of familiarity or a pleasing lilt, or can invite reader participation, here Gwynne's failure to alter his delivery makes the book feel like an endless knock-knock joke: It stifles the text, denies it oxygen.

The artwork, which looks like it was capably knocked off with a set of Magic Markers and some fast handwork, has an easy comfort to it. The illustrations have a 5-year-old's vividness to them.


Sign Up Message
Sign up for our weekly newsletter
Each week we send a customized newsletter to our parent and teen subscribers. Parents can customize their settings to receive recommendations and parent tips based on their kids’ ages. Teens receive a version just for them with the latest reviews and top picks for movies, video games, apps, music, books, and more.
Please enter an email address.
Please check your email address for possible typos.
Sorry, you must be 13 or older to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Sign me up!

What families can talk about

Families can talk about idioms and homonyms. Find some more examples of each. Talk about the origins of some idioms.


This review was written by Peter Lewis

There aren't any reviews yet. Be the first to review this title below.


This review was written by Peter Lewis
Author:Fred Gwynne
Illustrator:Fred Gwynne
Book type:Non-Fiction
Genre:Words
Publisher:Simon & Schuster
Publication date:January 1, 2000
Number of pages:40
Paperback price:$6.99
Publisher's recommended age(s):4 - 7

This review was written by Peter Lewis
 

Review It

Share your review with others

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.

Register now to save reviews and advice articles to your personal lists!


About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

 

vote now

Will you read The King Who Rained?


Already read it? What do you think?

 

Been There? Tell us about it