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Review of Lila and the Secret of Rain

An Elegant Picture Book by David Conway and Jude Daly

Jul 17, 2008 Helen Brain

Lila and the Secret of Rain is a full colour picture book, and was published by Frances Lincoln in 2007. ISBN 978-1-84507-407-4

Lila is a little girl who lives in a village in Kenya. It is hot, so hot that everyone has to stay inside their huts. It’s too hot to gather wood, milk the cows, or weed the vegetable garden. The wells have dried up, and if it doesn’t rain soon everything will die.

Lila’s Grandfather Tells Her a Story

Lila is desperate for the rain to start falling. Her grandfather tells her a story. When he was a little boy, he met a man who told him the secret of rain. ‘You must climb to the top of the highest mountain,’ the man said, ‘and tell the sky the saddest thing you know.’

Lila Climbs the Mountain

The next morning early Lila leaves the village early and sets off to the highest mountain. She climbs and climbs and climbs. And at the top she tells the mountain the saddest things she knows – how she burned her finger, how her brother cut his leg- but still it does not rain.

Lila Finds her Saddest Thing

At last she cries. ‘What can I do?’ she says to the sky. And she tells the sky that if the rain does not come everyone in the village will die. And the only sound on the mountain is Lila weeping.

The Rain Comes

Slowly the sky turns black, and there is thunder and lightning, and soon tears of rain wash the ground. Lila lifts her hands to the crying sky because the rain drops are like her mother’s kisses. Then she runs home. The whole village is celebrating. And her grandfather gives her a smile, because only the two of them know she saved the village with the secret of rain.

David Conway and Jude Daly

Writer, David Conway, was an established poet before he turned to picture books. He says: “I discovered that the experience I gained from writing poetry lent itself to writing picture books - it took my writing into a new and rewarding direction.”

Each word in this story is thoughtfully placed in terms of rhythm, and the lyrical quality of his words is perfectly matched by illustrator Jude Daly. Her style is ethereal and dreamy, while retaining a sharpness that builds drama and tension before resolving it in a joyful celebration of rain that only someone who has experienced an African drought could bring off.

Lila and the Secret of Rain is suitable for children aged three and upwards. It is an elegant and touching book that can be read over and over again.

Read about how Jude Daly went about illustrating Lila and the Secret of Rain.

The copyright of the article Review of Lila and the Secret of Rain in Children’s Books is owned by Helen Brain. Permission to republish Review of Lila and the Secret of Rain in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.