Kathleen Maresh Hemery

What I thought: I really liked the way this book showed many different situations and how to help children get through them. I thought that this book would be good for any teacher, parent, or care giver to have because it is a kind of informational book for us to help children through ruff times. This book has three different stories that deal with different situations that will help children through ruff times. I liked the illustrations in this book they reflected each story by the colors that would reflect the stories. Reading the book made me feel sad because of what happened in them. I did like how each story found a way to help the child to move past the situation presented. It was a very moving book that in the end made me feel better about each story.

Summary: Catching Rainbows: Stories to Support Children During Life Crises by K. Hemery (1995) The first is about a girl and her grandfather, each time she goes and sees him they wind his clocks. One day he has a stroke and has to be moved to a nursing home. The young girl takes one of her grandfathers favorite clocks to him to make him feel more at home. She reminds the nurse to wind the clock for him, when he dies the clock is still ticking. The second story is about a boy who loses his dog. One day he and his mom are outside washing the car when he sees a rainbow in the water, his mom has him catch the rainbow. He keeps the rainbow in the the jar until he is ready to let it go.

Classroom Extentions:
1) After reading the book I would ask my students to tell me a sad time that they had to face, who helped them through it, and how.
2) After reading this book I would have the children express the way that the book made them feel by acting it out, and allowing us to guess the way or ways that the book made them feel.… (more)