It’s pouring rain here…the perfect day for me to tell you about this gem of the book: The Pink Umbrella, by Amelie Callot, illustrated by Genevieve Godbout. This is a children’s picture book, but it’s also the perfectly delightful story for all ages of Adele, a cafe owner in a small village by the sea. 
Adele is like sunshine to the people around her, but gets very blue on rainy days. In short, Adele hates rain, and the people who love her hate to see her sad. The story develops in a simple way, but it will melt your heart.
Yes, The Pink Umbrella is about romantic love, but in the best possible way. The love story is about a slow, abiding, caring, gentle love, not a sweep-you-off-your-feet, love-at-first-sight kind of love our children are so often exposed to in fairy tales and through all kinds of mediums. Beyond a healthy and beautiful love story, the book gives a good picture of how a hard-working, thoughtful, and generous person in seemingly small ways can change the people and places around him or her. Adele is an ordinary woman, not a princess, and this is an ordinary story, but with gorgeous illustrations and a couple of characters you’ll want to know in real life.
Make an outing to a library or bookstore to get The Pink Umbrella part of your plans this weekend!
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About Mia The Reader ~ Just a lady with a busy life full of a big family, a background in literature, and an obsession with books ~
We’re all crazy about 
We’re also giggling at 
anymore. I read it as a parenting manual. What silly book could I possibly be referring to? 
everything around here? Why are there shoes on the coffee table?” (It’s ironic that we are the cause of these complaints in our early days here on earth and then we are the thinkers of those complaints later…sorry, Mom!). But then, I was reading about Amelia Bedelia scattering roses around the living room and stripping sheets (tearing them into strips, that is), and I thought, “Ha, that’s something my kids would do.” Ding, ding! That’s something your kids would do if you didn’t TEACH them how to do it the right way or explain what you meant!
It’s been about a month since I made this discovery, and I certainly still get frustrated, but at least we have some foundation for what the kids know we expect from them now. At least when I get frustrated that there’s dirt all over the floor, they understand why, because they just vacuumed that room themselves yesterday and now they have to do it again. I guess you can say reading Amelia Bedelia taught me that it’s completely fruitless to be frustrated with my children if I wasn’t taking the time to explain and train. Now, every time I read those books to the kids, I am reminded of that lesson and I ask myself how I’m doing at it.
