The World Made a Rainbow

By Author / Illustrator

Michelle Robinson, Emily Hamilton

Genre

Mental Health & Wellbeing

Age range(s)

Publisher

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

ISBN

9781526629814

Format

Hardback

Published

17-09-2020

Synopsis

Let's paint a big rainbow to put on display.
When people pass by it and see it, they'll say …
'All rainstorms must end, and this rainstorm will too.'
And they'll feel a bit happier, all thanks to you.

Light can't shine without dark. Rainbows can't colour the sky without rain. And the world is always full of hope and possibility, even when we feel lost and alone.

Inspired by the rainbows that children across the world have been creating and displaying in their windows, The World Made a Rainbow is a beautiful story with a hopeful message of staying connected to the people we love.

Bestselling author Michelle Robinson was desperate to find a way to help small children navigate their way through the complex emotions caused by the 2020 lockdown. She has written a story that matters now, but will last for ever. With charming illustrations from new talent Emily Hamilton, The World Made a Rainbow will reassure, uplift and is the perfect reminder of fun, hope and togetherness.

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Reviews

All the world had to stay home. As with all rainstorms, this one would come to an end soon. But for now the focus is on feeling happier... Let's paint a big rainbow. A rainbow that will make us feel happy and others who see it feel happy too. Immediately this is a theme that every child will be able to relate to, given the recent climate.

As the story develops on each page there are links to feelings, expressions and memories that many children would have experienced; spending time with their household, parents working from home, video calls to friends and family, walks, crafts, feelings of loneliness and sadness, feeling hope, creating rainbows.

As the little girl sets to her rainbow painting with red, she is reminded of the red chairs in her classroom and her expression turns sad. Mum reassures her with a cuddle that the storm will pass. With Mum working and Dad's attention on her little brother, she can't find orange so has fun with yellow! Green can't be made without blue - and the girl feels lonely and sad. A brilliant link to expressing emotions in other ways, like colour.

Dad suggests collage and homemade glue, and together they create pictures of memories. All these memories make the world seem a dark place right now. But without dark there would be no light. As she nears the end of the rainbow and reaches Violet, she is reminded of her best friend. Mum sets up a video call and she discovers that Violet is feeling and doing the same activities. With the rainbow finished, the story shows the little girl and Violet visiting each others' rainbow and waving through the window. The ending reminds us that no matter the storm, we still have each other when it ends.

This is a brilliant book, with lovely illustrations, to share with children to discuss what they have experienced over recent times and as a way of reassuring and showing that others around the country and world were in the same situation; feeling and acting in the same way.

Picture book / Reviewed by Maria Faithorn, teacher