Will I love The Rainbabies?

This book is hands down one of my favorite children’s books of all time. Jim LaMarche’s gorgeous illustrations had me entranced as a kid (they still do!) and as an adult revisiting the book, I am blown away by how thoughtfully it tackles some heavy real-life issues. The story centers around an older couple struggling with infertility who, through a magical springtime rain, find themselves suddenly the caretakers of 12 fantastically tiny babies.

The story has the effortless flow of a classic fairytale and along the way weaves a moving and nuanced understanding of parenting and the overall concept of… show more.

On the night of a moonshower, a childless couple is bequeathed 12 tiny rainbabies, each no bigger than a big toe. They lavish care on them, but “dangers born of water, fire, and earth” threaten the safety of the babies. The couple is offered a fortune to give them to a rich lady who is childless, but they refuse. Then one day Mother Moonshower comes to take the rainbabies back. In their stead she leaves the couple a human-sized baby to raise and “their happiness was complete.” A heartwarming story.