Like a rainbow transforming a grey afternoon, this beguiling picture book brought a sense of wonder to our week.
At first reading, the Boy who Rescued a Rainbow feels like an adventure story. We meet a boy (George) who is strong and brave, and fearlessly tackles everything from oceans and mountains to a deadly dragon – but this is where the familiar picture book territory ends.
When the boy finds a broken rainbow in a tree, he pours all his effort into fixing it, and though the rainbow recovers to join him on some wonderful adventures – it turns out that they are only meant to be together for a short while.
With echoes of Oliver Jeffers’ Lost and Found, this is a story about resilience, connection and loss. While it is told with a touching tenderness, it is Corrina Campbell’s beautiful illustrations really set it apart. Each one makes our imaginings tangible and perfectly captures the mood of the scene.
This story doesn’t shy away from its thunderstorms, but there is sunshine too. We especially enjoyed the changing role of the decidedly un-deadly looking deadly dragon. In the ‘Don’t Leave Me!’ scene, you can almost feel a small person’s frustration.
Little Door Books is a small publisher that only puts out a handful of books each year, but each one has a special quality that keeps it right at the top of our bedtime reading pile. The Boy Who Rescued a Rainbow is a lovely story that children will enjoy from the outset, and its layers and details will ensure it can be enjoyed again, and again.
- This review was part of the blog tour for The Boy who Rescued a Rainbow. See the image above to find the bloggers who feature in the tour.
The Boy who Rescued a Rainbow, by Corrina Campbel (Little Door Books)
Roaring Reads 