Sally Morgan (text) and Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr (illustrator), Thank You Rain!, Magabala Books, September 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781922613646
Magabala Books is Australia’s leading publisher of Indigenous stories. Aboriginal owned and led, they are a powerhouse publisher producing and nurturing Indigenous voices. Once again, they’ve hit the mark by producing this picture book celebrating a most precious resource – the rain.
Thank You Rain! is the result of another successful partnership between writer Sally Morgan and illustrator Johnny Warrkatja Malibirr. Their previous collaborations, both Notabled, Little Bird’s Day and The River, were also published by Magabala Books.
This is a simple story that celebrates the joy of rain. Australian wildlife and wilderness bask and play in the deluge. Birds sing. Animals drink. Raindrops wet the earth. Drip drop, splish spolsh, plink plonk. The book is scattered with these simple onomatopoeias that children love to repeat time and time again.
And again.
Morgan does a wonderful job of assembling simple words that tell a powerful story. Through her, our children get a real sense of what a vital resource the rain is to our dry land. And when it falls, we celebrate.
Yet Malibirr’s accompanying artwork is what really makes Thank You Rain! jump off the shelf. His traditional artwork is sensitive, honouring his heritage, and bold, filled only with the colours one could source from the earth.
Thank You Rain! is a piece of art that teachers, librarians, and parents alike can enjoy along with young readers as those little ones learn just how much our earth appreciates the rain. Because the next time the rain falls, there’s nothing more beautiful than hearing a little one say, “thank you, rain!”.
Reviewed by Geni Kuckhahn
