John Micklos Jr. Writer

Raindrops are falling outside, but there’s still a world of color to experience! Delightful rhymes and brilliant illustrations detail how a gloomy, rainy day might not be so gloomy after all when you get to spend time with Mom, Brown Bear, and the colors all around you. Charlene Chua’s vibrant artwork(complete with a cute Corgi) provides a wonderful complement to the story. Aimed at ages 3-5, the book captures the way people of all ages feel as we await the “rainbow” of better times after the long gloom of the pandemic.

The inspiration for Raindrops to Rainbow came on a rainy day during a writer’s retreat at the Highlights Foundation retreat center in northeastern Pennsylvania. While listening to the rain falling on the cabin’s roof, the lines “Plip-plop, plip-plop, plip-plip-plop, Will these raindrops ever stop” popped into my head. Soon the concept for a color-oriented book about a young girl whose yellow sun, blue sky day turns into a gray sky, white lightning day developed. Accompanied by Mom and Brown Bear, the girl experiences other colors until the rain stops and a colorful rainbow appears in the sky. She goes to bed later realizing that “I don’t mind rain because I know. without the rain there’s no rainbow.” The first draft of the manuscript came together in a single day. Many drafts and two years later, the book was accepted for publication by Penguin Workshop.

Released March 2 2021. the book has drawn positive reviews and comments from Kirkus Reviews and others. Learn more here: Raindrops to Rainbow by John Micklos, Jr.: 9780593224090 | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books.