Rhythm on the Rain

3/15/2017

Harper and the Scarlet Umbrella by Carrie Burrell ill by Laura Ellen Anderson

"Once there was a girl who...heard songs on the wind, rhythms on the rain, and hope in the beat of a butterfly's wings."

Check out the cover: a girl with a cat perched atop her head and holding aloft a red umbrella as she sails through the skies. It is evident that readers are about to experience a delightful adventure. Carrie Burnell's Harper and the Scarlet Umbrella certainly lives up to that expectation. Meet Harper a girl with a rare musical gift who lives with her Great Aunt Sassy, chief dressmaker for the Dutch Opera House. When work takes Aunt Sassy away for a few days she wishes Harper "a weekend as wonderful as you" and advises her to take the Scarlet Umbrella as protection against the rainshower. Harper locates the umbrella, but to her dismay the cat Midnight is nowhere to be found. Where can her pet be? Tiny paw prints tracking across the book's pages provide a clue. She learns that along with Midnight, cats throughout the city are missing. With assistance from the magical umbrella, she sets out to find these felines who have mysteriously disappeared.

Her friends Liesel, Ferdie, Nate and his wolf named Smoke arm themselves with musical instruments and join together in the search. "Keep your instruments with you. If anyone approaches, sound the alarm by playing three sharp notes. Music will be our secret signal." After locating a forbidden door, passing through The Library of Long-Forgotten Music, and venturing into the darkness, the young detectives discover a multitude of cats playing tiny orchestra instruments. They learn that The Wild Conductor has captured the city's cats and created a cat orchestra. Harper and her companions use the magic of the scarlet umbrella combined with the power of music to free the felines from the spell that holds them captive. Anderson's illustrations enhance the charming fairytale-like setting. Cats, music, mystery and magic combine to create lyrical storytelling. The story's conclusion hints that Harper will have further adventures. Yes please.

Rainy Day Lexicon

This is so clever! What a marvelous way to expand rainy day vocabulary beyond "cats and dogs". The next time that the promise showers grab your umbrella, perhaps a scarlet hue, and try one of these intriguing precipitation descriptions.

Summer Dew: a light rain that barely touches you.
Sea Mist: a soft rain that emerges from the air like a fog.
Heartbeat: an even rain, steady as your heart.
Cloudburst: a downpour that soaked you to the skin.
Icefall: a hard rain that struck like hail.
Thunder Break: when the sky was alive with storms.