Read It Again!!

The CPG and EK children read an out-of-print old favorite, Little Cloud, by Robert Tallon. After I finished reading it, cries for me to read it again went up from the CPG kids. I wasn't at all surprised. Over the years, Little Cloud has elicited this response over and over. What a shame that a book kids connect to so strongly has gone out of print. I'll never understand the publishing industry!

Creative Play Group Responses:

Teagan: The lightning knocked off the mountain's nose and it fell off. I liked when it knocked off the nose. See! The lightning's touching the nose. His nose fell off and he said, "Aaaaw!! My nose!!" Look it. He blowed his nose when it was off him on the grass. He was tearing [crying] because his nose fell off in the dark.

Maeve: The cloud was near the big mountain. The big mountain scared everybody. He knocked off his nose because he didn't want him to be mean. The mountain grumbled. I liked it because he knocked off his nose.

Aria:  There was no more water for the animals. I like this one. [Illustration showing Mean Mountain's nose on the ground.] His nose is all sad.

Brady D.:  It was a story about Mean Mountain and Little Cloud.  I liked when Little Cloud wanted to go to the other side of Mean Mountain. The water was drying up because there was no rain. Mean Mountain scared away the clouds. I like this part. "Blast off!" He got his nose!

Ryan:  Big Mountain was mean to the clouds and he said, "Go away!" The water went all up because of Mean Mountain. I think he drank it all, so now the tree said, "I need water." Little Cloud was going to bring his friends. Mean Mountain was mad at Little Cloud. All the clouds gathered up and Little Cloud was the leader. When they got to the mountain the lightning shot Mean Mountain's nose. And then clouds rained and filled up the water.

Lindsey:  Little Cloud rained. The nose fell off.

Alec:  I like that page because it's scary. Mean Mountain is mad.

Aidan C.:  The tree didn't have any water because it didn't rain. Little Cloud broke Mean Mountain's nose off because he was mean to him. He was going, "My nose! My nose!"  I like that part.

J.J.:  Little Cloud got all his friends and made the big mountain's nose fall off because the mountain was mean. The water was drying up and the animals were really thirsty.

Aiden R.:  The animals needs some water, and even the trees.  The water is getting all dried out. There was no rain. This is my favorite. [Illustration in which lightning streaks out from Little Cloud, knocking off Mean Mountain's nose.]  His nose just fell off! The thunder was just cracking it.

Early Kindergarten Responses

Keegan:  There was a little cloud that couldn't get over the mountain because the mountain was mean. There wasn't a lot of water for the animals and trees. I liked the part where his nose broke off. And he kind of looks funny with his nose off. I think he's supposed to be The Old Man in the Mountain, but I'm not sure. This book kind of looks old. 

Daniel:  It's about a cloud who saves a valley from the bad mountain. He always scares the rain clouds away because he looks mean and scary and throws pebbles and rocks. The valley dried up. Little Cloud got all of his friends. Little cloud struck a light of thunder and knocked off the mountain's nose and brought water to the pond so they could drink and live. The last page was the mountain crying at his broken nose.

Allison: The mountain laughed at the cloud. All of the animals didn't have water. Lightning knocked off the mountain's nose. All of the animals and the trees had water.

Brady K.:  Little Cloud found Mean Mountain. Lightning came out of Mean Mountain's nose. It fell on the ground.

Bella:  I like the Little Cloud story because he had an idea to make lots and lots of rain because he wanted to make Mean Mountain's nose fall off. The water hole wasn't filled. So Little Cloud went to talk to a tree and the tree whispered because he wanted some rain. And then Little Cloud wasn't afraid of Mean Mountain.

Annalee: The mountain broke his nose because the lightning strucked him. The tree needed the water. His leaves were falling off and the leaves were very dry. The water was going away because the sun was up.

Sophie:  Where's the nosy part? [Flips through book to find illustration of Mean Mountain's grounded nose.] Well, the mountain's nose came off and he was just looking at it, crying. And the nose melted, because I see the green. [It's actually the nose's shadow.]

Leah:  The tree was whispering to the cloud because every time the clouds went by Mean Mountain scared them away. Little Cloud and all the clouds filled up over the sea with water. They made a big cloud all together with Little Cloud in the lead, and then they went to Mean Mountain and then lightning struck from Little Cloud onto Mean Mountain's nose. His nose fell onto the ground and it was gathering all the dust up. I just saw something! You [in my blue shirt] and the [blue] end pages match!

Brooke B.:  Little Cloud went to Mean Mountain and Mean Mountain wouldn't let Little Cloud go over him, but Little Cloud went around him. The valley had no water, and the tree whispered, "Can you bring some water?" Little Cloud asked her friends if they would help her, and they did. And then Little Cloud shot a big lightning bolt at big Mean Mountain and cut off his nose. And then he let water into the valley's waterfall and Little Cloud stayed in the valley.

Hayden:  All of the clouds said, "Hey come back, Little Cloud!" He just floated away and met Mean Mountain. He was crabby. When you be crabby, that means you're mad. Everybody is so hot because there's no water to play in . The tree whispered, "Please make it rain." And Little Cloud go back over Mean Mountain, and Mean Mountain blasts him off to the stars. Little Cloud got an airplane and taked one little snooze. That's what I do when someone's going to come over to my house. And then Little Cloud said, "Hey, why you all sleeping?" The clouds said, "Shhh! We're taking a little nap." Than all of the clouds maked an arrow, and went back to Mean Mountain. And then the mountain did some thunder. All the thunder came to Little Cloud. Everybody was so happy because Little Cloud brought the rain from the ocean. Then Mean Mountain cried because all the clouds knocked his nose off. He got a big tear coming out. And then Little Cloud saved everybody's life.

John: I liked when Little Cloud struck a streak of lightning and it knocked off Mean Mountain's nose and he said, "My nose! My nose!" And he groaned.  And that's it!