Rain dance / written by Cathy Applegate ; illustrated by Dee Huxley.
Hunters Hill, NSW : Margaret Hamilton Books, 2000
©2000
Unfortunately this book is now out of print. I have contacted Scholastic Australia, requesting that they re-print the work as there is still demand. If you would like to help, please get in touch with them on customer_service@scholastic.com.au
Rain Dance was short listed for the The Children’s Book Council awards in 2001: Picture Book of the Year
It is a story about a child’s joy at smelling, feeling and seeing rain after a long drought. It also explores the plight of people on the land, many of whom are faced with difficult decisions during long years without rain. Many lose their farms, properties that have often been in the family for generations. The idea for the book came from watching my own small children playing in the rain with great abandon and joy.
The Darwin Symphony Orchestra presented the work at a Family Proms concert in 2014. The concertmaster, Tara Murphy prepared a graphic score for a small ensemble – and this was played as a narrator read the story.
Huxley, Dee, 1947- illustrator
The Beth Stubbs Memorial Rain Dance Project
The book also provided inspiration for a major Australian national project (Click here for detail of the project) after a copy was presented to the education team at the Royal Botanic Gardens Cranbourne at a function on 21st August 2013.
The book is an important element within the program which is designed to encourage children to think about water, its source and the impact of a scarcity of rain on the landscape and people’s livelihoods. In the story, a family anticipate the sale of their farm and a move away from what they know… but the rains come just in time!