We need to shake something to make the rain come and the plants grow.
Rain Shaker by Elizabeth Mary Cummings is a thought provoking picture book that not only tells a story about a little girls dream to watch her sunflowers grow but also one which touches on the harsh realities of life in Australia during drought.
Erin has planted some seeds and is eagerly awaiting their bloom but without rain, they are not growing very well.
As she waits her parents teach her about the importance of soil while they get the garden and house ready for Christmas.
Erin knows she can’t just sit and wait for the rain to come so when the Christmas lights light up the house, she starts to shake things up by creating her own rain dance to hopefully get some rain coming their way.
Rain Shaker is a wonderful book to teach children about our reliance on water and how important it is to make things grow. Readers will also learn more about sunflowers along with how to grow their own.
It is also a great book to look at language with great use of adjectives & descriptive verbs
Rain Shaker will inspire some great science lessons and outdoor enquiry. When children have more of a connection with growing things, they have much more appreciation of the natural world so this book is a great way to start that appreciation of the small things that we can all grow.
