Rainy Day

What is there to do on a rainy day? Nick has been waiting all week to visit his dad's new apartment. In this poignant book, Nick and his father spend a rain-soaked day together jumping into puddles, and dodging crashing waves at the seashore. Nick tells his father, "I miss you." "Me, too," his dad responds. "All the time." Rinaldi's pictures are an intriguing mix of realism and dreamy scenic backgrounds. Nick and his father look so real they seem to be out of photographs, but they are set against ethereal, impressionistic backgrounds that capture both the physical reality of rain-washed days and the characters' moods, which shift in a way that is reminiscent of clouds making and remaking themselves. Along the way, they discover that no matter what they do or how they spend their day, the happiness that they feel is from being together.