Come play in the rain with the comfort of this book. Listen for these fanciful A'free'can-American "gods" as they dance the celebration of cleansing summer shower. This is an African American folktale bringing us the magic behind a rainstorm. The names of the gods are derived by merely spelling the elements of a thunderstorm backwards... (rain=Niar, cloud=Duolc, etc.)

Just as the Native Americans have their Rain Dnaces, this story is known to have had similar powers of healing a drought. Reading it during a hot summer day may easily produce a refreshing rain. Even at the first exhibit of these illustrations, the Rain Gods came alive and did a grand performance. If there is already an angry cloudburst, this story is the perfect warm blanket of comfort.

The illustrations in this book are a combination of airbrush, laser prints, and watercolors in mixed-media collage. The story has matured over a period of 15 years. During that time it has been a come-to-life story, an exhibit of fine art and a blanket for alarming summer storms. The true ballet has yet to be danced.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JULEE DICKERSON THOMPSON is a fine artist, illustrator, and educator. A graduate of Simmons College and The School of Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, she recieved her earliest trainging from Workshops for the Careers In the Arts (presently the Duke Ellington School of the Arts). She lives with her husbanc and five children in Washington, D.C.

CATEGORY
Children's/AFRICAN AMERICAN