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Rabbits and Raindrops by Jim Arnosky

Summary of the Story

A mother rabbit takes her five babies out of the nest for the first time. They all go out to nibble clover and meet the other creatures. When it rains, they hop back under the bushes and wait out the storm.

Introducing the Story

• Read the title of the book on the cover, pointing to each word as you say it. Repeat the title with your child.

Reading the Story for the First Time

• Read the words to the story on each page, moving your finger under the words as you read.
• Give the child enough time to look at each of the pictures. You may want to name some of the other creatures that are shown in the pictures as you read the book this first time. Ask: Have you ever seen a rabbit? Have you ever seen any of these other animals? What were they doing?

Reading the Book Again and Again

• Each time you read Rabbits and Raindrops, leave more of the "reading" or retelling to your child. Give prompts on each page. For example, ask: What is fluttering above the rabbits? (A brown-and-yellow butterfly is fluttering above the rabbits.)
• Give prompts about objects or activities in the pictures. For example, ask: Where do the rabbits go when it rains? (They hop back under the bushes.) Use your finger to point to what you are asking about. Evaluate the child's response. Expand it by giving more information. Ask the child to repeat the answer. If he or she needs help in answering a question, ask that question again the next time you read the book. Good words to ask about are listed in the vocabulary section below. Be sure to talk about objects and actions the child brings up, too.
• You may wish to discuss the prompts shown below.

Building Literacy

• Point to the raindrops on the cover of the book. Has the child ever been outside in the rain? What did he or she do? Use the story and the pictures to start the child talking about what animals do when it rains. You might use words such as raining, pouring, lightning, thunder, and so on.

Prompts

Ask the child questions after the second and third readings of Rabbits and Raindrops , to start a conversation about the book. You can prompt the child on every page, using the questions below. If the child says something spontaneously about a picture, expand on it and ask the child to repeat it. There are questions for every one or two pages of the story.

1. What do you see in this picture? (A mother rabbit and her babies are in their nest.)
2. How many baby rabbits are there? Let's count them together. (There are five.)
3. What is fluttering above the rabbits? (A brown-and-yellow butterfly is fluttering above the rabbits.)
4. What is this little bunny looking at? (It is looking at a fuzzy caterpillar.)
5. Which rabbit is the mother rabbit? (The big rabbit is the mother.)
6. What's happening here? (The mother rabbit is hopping out of the nest.)
7. What's happening here? (The baby rabbits are hopping out of the nest and going over to the mother rabbit.)
8. What do the rabbits eat? (They eat clover leaves and flowers.)
9. What do the baby rabbits meet? (They meet a bee, a grasshopper, and a spider.)
10. What happens all of a sudden? (The sky turns dark and it starts to rain.)
11. Where are the rabbits going? (They are going back under the bushes where it is dry.)
12. What is happening here? (The baby rabbits are watching the rain.)
13. What are these? (Those are their tails.)
14. What is this little rabbit looking at? (It is looking at a brown-and-yellow butterfly.)
15. What other animals come in out of the rain? (A butterfly, a rat, a grasshopper, a hummingbird, and some ants come in out of the rain.)
16. Who stays outside in the rain? (The bees stay outside in the rain.)
17. What is this? (It is a turtle.)
18. What is happening in this picture? (The rabbits all go back onto the lawn.)
19. What are they doing now? (They are eating grass and playing games.)

Vocabulary

The words listed below come from the story and its pictures. As you page through the book, point to the pictures and ask the child to name the object or the action shown. This will help the child learn new words. You can use the words below or you can choose words you think will interest your child. Below are words for every one or two pages of the story.

• mother rabbit, baby rabbits, under the bushes, butterfly
• ears, tail, paws, caterpillar, ladybug
• hopping, nose, whiskers
• salamander, sunshine
• clover, bee, grasshopper, spider
• getting dark, raindrops
• hurrying
• waiting, dry, ants
• brown-and-yellow butterfly
• hummingbird, beak, wings, rat, grasshopper
• outside, honeybees, buzzing
• turtle
• hind feet, hopping
• playing, dandelion