The King Who Rained

An older friend of mine was telling me about a children’s book she had years ago and how much she wished she still had it to share with her grandkids. She told me it had all these cute phrases and the way children might imagine them. She gave me an example of “frog in the throat”. I decided to look for that book and see if I couldn’t find it to give to her as a gift. I came across “The King Who Rained” on Amazon, ordered it, wrapped it, and gave it to her as a gift. Sure enough, this was the book she remembered!

This book was a great visual aid for my 4th grader to help explain homonyms and homophones. It gave showed him the difference between spelling and definitions of words that sound the same. My 1st grader liked it because it seems so silly. The phrases in A Chocolate Moose for Dinner and The King Who Reigned feel relevant still. A Little Pigeon Toad and Sixteen Hand Horse have some older phrases that I don't remember hearing much as a kid, so feel pretty outdated to me now as an adult.

"The King Who Rained"" written & illustrated by Fred Gwynne, Aladdin Paperbacks, / Simon & Schuster 1970Homonym is the term for words which sound alike but mean different things. Because of its historical roots in both the Germanic and Latin branches of the Indo-European language family, the English language is rich in homonyms. Fred Gwynne, the noted TV actor, plays upon "reign", (from Latin/French roots, and meaning to rule), and the word "rain", from the Old Anglo-Saxon, and meaning "water dropping from the heavens". His front cover shows a king in ermine robes contentedly raining on the countryside, while a young girl, with an umbrella, gazes up at the ruler. This kind of thing continues through the book, making every page funny and interesting.The illustrations are colorfully done in what appears to be pastel chalks, and Fred Gwynne has probably included some autobiographical drawings as, for example, the Daddy with the mole on his nose is easily recognizable as the TV actor. This book is nicely illustrated and will provide many hours of reading enjoyment and learning.Personally, I found that the child-reader has to be in the first or second grade, or at least fairly well exposed to the nuances of the English language, or else the play on words, using homonyms, will be lost. The younger children appeared to be interested in the illustrations alone, which are stand-alone funny.

great illustrations and a good introduction to some of the complexity (or strengths) of the english language you probably recognize the name from Herman Munster. I highly recommend this book though I would recommend an age range of 4 to maybe 8

This is a great book for teaching children about homophones. English is a weird language, and having a fun way to learn about words that sound the same but have completely different meanings--it's priceless. I enjoyed this book as a young child, and my kids enjoy it, too.

Love this witty book. Our bed time favorite. Not sure who has enjoyed more - the kiddo or the adults! Also a good tool for those learning English as 2nd language!

I had this book years ago when I taught Kindergarten, now as a grandmother, I bought my grandson the book and he LOVES it! We laugh every time we read it together. Some of the more advanced Itioms, I did have to explain , however, he is only three years old.

Puns for children ... and adults. The looks on the little girl's face are priceless. I love giving these books to older children to read with there parents.Too bad that most people only remember Fred as Herman Munster, he was such a talent!

I absolutely loved this book as a child and bought it for my girlfriend who is a preschool teacher. I love reading it with my girls as well!

Love this book!!

I wanted to use this in my yr 3 classroom to introduce homophones but really I felt that it wasn't quite about homophones and tended to mix up homophones with other sorts of confusing sayings that adults say. It wasn't quite what I wanted.

Great kids book. Old as dirt, and the puns are not very relevant today, I didn't understand half of them when I was young. But it is a good primer.

主人公の女の子の好奇心いっぱいの表情が魅力的で、小さい子はこの様に何にでも興味をもっているのだろうなと思いました。今まで知らなかった単語や熟語を知ることも出来、満足しています。また、この本を英会話のサブ教材として絵の説明や、発音の練習や、言葉遊びに使用しています。子供のみならず大人の生徒も”へぇ～っ！”の連発です。勿論、大学生と高校生の私の子供もこのシリーズのファンです。リラックスして英語を習得できる遊び心のある本だと思います。