When rain comes to the parched African savannah, the animals use all their senses to track the storm. The porcupine smells rain in the air. The zebra sees lightning. The baboons hear thunder. The rhino feels the first drops. And the lion tastes the cool water. For a time, the grasslands abound with new green leaves, juicy fruits and fresh pools of water. But soon the hot sun dries out the land, and the animals must again wait for the next big rain.

Manya Stojic's picture book debut is as satisfying and refreshing as the rain she describes. With paintings that are exuberant and saturated with colour and simple text that rolls off the tongue with pleasure and ease, here is a book parents and teachers will enjoy sharing again and again.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2015 by Pavilion Books .

Yugoslavian-born author and illustrator Manya Stojic has a wonderful way of creating simple texts and then enriching them with her brightly coloured illustrations. Rain is her first book. Manya lives in North London with her husband, author Ken Wilson-Max.