It Starts With a Raindrop - Story Snug

It Starts With a Raindrop by Aimee Gallagher & Sally Garland

It Starts With a Raindrop celebrates the role that a raindrop plays in the water cycle and the contribution that it makes to sustain a healthy, thriving planet. This beautifully illustrated, non fiction picture book simply and effectively describes a scientific concept in a way that young children can understand.

The Story: A raindrop becomes part of a puddle, splashes on the sand then joins a river that takes it to the sea. Over the water it rises into the air as part of a cloud before cooling and beginning the cycle all over again.

This gentle rhyming book shows how important a raindrop is wherever it falls – in cold places as snow or as part of a tropical storm. It explains how rain soaks into the ground to help plants grow and animals thrive before it evaporates and joins others to become a cloud. It simultaneously educates and entertains while stimulating curiosity about the world around us.

We love the whimsical watercolour illustrations which bring the raindrop’s journey to life. Each page conveys joy and the book ends with a fabulous fold-out scene which celebrates the ways we can enjoy water and encourages us to go outside and enjoy the contribution that raindrops make to our everyday lives.

It Starts With a Raindrop would make a great addition to a nursery or primary school classroom and can be used to initiate discussions about weather and more explicitly the water cycle. At the back of the book there is a double page spread with a copy of the text as a poem, an explanation of the water cycle plus information about the three states of water – liquid, ice and gas (steam) which would stimulate a fabulous classroom display.

Age Range: 3 +

Author: Aimee Gallagher / / Illustrator: Sally Garland

Thank you to Quarto and Netgalley for the review copy of this beautiful introduction to a scientific concept.


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12 responses to “It Starts With a Raindrop by Aimee Gallagher & Sally Garland”


  1. Jayne @ Sticky Mud and Belly Laughs avatar

    I love books that make learning fun and this does exactly that. Beautifully illustrated too! 🙂


    1. Catherine avatar

      The learning in this story is so subtly woven in, through both the text and illustrations 🙂


  2. Joanne avatar

    This sounds like such a wonderful story!


    1. Catherine avatar

      It is gorgeous. I love it when a story educates without being didactic 🙂


  3. RaisieBay avatar

    Who would have thought rain would be so interesting. I miss the feel of walking in the rain sometimes, but I hated sudden downpours out of nowhere.


    1. Catherine avatar

      We often moan about rain but we would definitely miss it if we didn’t have it!


  4. Kim Carberry avatar

    What a beautifully illustrated book and great for little ones, to teach them about the water cycle.


    1. Catherine avatar

      It is beautiful, I love it when a book makes learning enjoyable 🙂


  5. Carol avatar

    This book sounds like a charming introduction to a complex scientific concept. I really like the illustrations too. #MMBC


    1. Catherine avatar

      It’s a beautiful way of introducing the water cycle 🙂


  6. Donna Gwinnell Lambo-Weidner avatar

    Great way to teach the water cycle to the ‘littles’ 🙂


    1. Catherine avatar

      It is! It’s written in such a child friendly way that even the littlest readers can understand the water cycle 🙂