The Day It Rained Hearts by Felicia Bond


The Day It Rained Hearts
Title : The Day It Rained Hearts
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 0060731230
ISBN-10 : 9780060731236
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 36
Publication : First published January 1, 1983

A creative and sweet story, perfect for Valentine's Day, that helps open the hearts of young readers. From the beloved illustrator of If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

One day it rains hearts, and Cornelia Augusta catches them. She realizes that the hearts are perfect for making valentines. Each heart is special in its own way, and Cornelia Augusta knows exactly who to send them to: her animal friends.

A fun way to spark creativity and thoughtfulness! The perfect book to pair with Valentine's Day crafts.


The Day It Rained Hearts Reviews


  • Abigail

    When it suddenly starts to rain hearts in this miniature picture-book from 1983, young Cornelia Augusta realizes that Valentine's Day must be close, and, taking advantage of the downpour, gathers the little red objects to her. Making Valentines from the windfall, she mails her missives of love to her friends, spreading the spirit of the holiday far and wide...

    Although familiar with Felicia Bond's name, through the illustrations she contributed to the blockbuster picture-book series begun in
    If You Give a Mouse a Cookie
    , this little volume is the first of her own titles I have picked up. First published as Four Valentines in a Rainstorm (the edition I read), it was reprinted in 2002 as
    The Day It Rained Hearts
    , and has remained in print under that title. I found it a sweet little book, appreciating its whimsical story and simple but expressive art. It is a small book, which no doubt adds to its charm. Recommended to picture-books looking for matter-of-factly magical Valentine's Day stories.

  •  Jordan

    When I was 3 I LOVED this book it is my favorite picture book ever!!!

  • Kristen Dutkiewicz

    Cute story for children in celebration of Valentine's Day. It literally is raining hearts!

  • McKenzie Creagan

    This is such a sweet book! One day it decides to rain hearts and a little girl goes out to catch them. She collects many different hearts to send valentines to her friends. The following years, there are no more hearts falling from the sky she she decorates the trees in her neighborhood with a ton of her own hearts. The illustrator of this book is the same one that did "If you give a mouse a cookie", so the illustrations are colorful and detailed throughout the book.
    I think that this would be a great teaching book about making valentines day cards. I could read this book out loud to my students and then have them make valentines of their own. Also, we can make different animals or shapes from heart cut outs to show the students how they can be used in many different ways. Such a fun book for valentines day!

  • Josiah

    This is a nice short Valentine's story about a girl who is walking along one day when suddenly the sky inexplicably begins to rain down Valentine hearts. Rather than look at the sky and wonder how this could be happening, the girl just takes it as what it is and thoughtfully begins to gather the hearts to use as Valentines for all the little animals in and near her house.

    The Day It Rained Hearts is a happy story that has a lot of good to it. I think that most readers will find it difficult not to smile a few times while reading it. I would give this book at least one and a half stars, and perhaps the full two.

  • Nick

    The perfect story to read on Valentine's Day (and we did so this morning), The Day It Rained Hearts tells the sweet story of young Cornelia Augusta (great name) and her desire to make valentines for the special furry friends in her life. The trademark artwork by Felicia Bond brings a welcome sense of youth and home to this story.

  • Gina

    Cute story. Excellent prelude to making Valentine's Day cards.

  • Cheryl

    Who doesn't love a book about hearts raining from the sky where a girl named Cornelia Augusta collected them and made Valentine's for her friends? It's lovely and sweet. A perfect Valentine's Day gift. A lovely read one-on-one or to a group of preschoolers maybe even followed by making Valentines of their own <3

  • Faith Walton

    One day it started to rain hearts, and Cornelia Augusta caught several. She took them home and began making valentines for her friends. Each heart was different, but perfect for each of her friends. She made thinks like heart necklaces, drawings, and cards. She mailed out her valentines, and her friends loved them. It never rained hearts again, but Cornelia Augusta still found ways to make valentines.

    I am a sucker for anything with hearts, they are my favorite shape. The illustrations were super cute, and the story was super fun. Felicia Bond is creative with how she makes each heart relate to each animal friend. While reading the book, I wondered how she knew they would relate to each of her friends, but in the end, it all made sense.

    I would 100% use this for a valentines day lesson. I would have the kids make heart valentines for whoever they wanted. It's also a good lesson for them to predict who is going to get each card as Cornelia is making them. It shows that everyone is different, but that's good!

  • April

    I read this book with a group of kindergarten friends earlier this week. It's a sweet book about one day when it starts raining hearts, and a little girl gathers them all up and uses them to make valentines. The plot was engaging, yet easy to follow. The illustrations were beautifully done. And it prompted good classroom discussion. My kindergarten friends shared things that they wished it would rain, and we predicted who the valentines were for. I recommend this one for classroom read alouds, parents and children to read together, and beginning readers.

  • SaraKat

    A cute valentine's day book. It shows the importance of thinking of others and actually putting work into gifts for others to make them feel special. I like how the homemade gifts were made to feel important over trinkets from the store. I still don't know why it rained hearts that one time, but maybe it was to remind the little girl to go ahead and get busy thinking of her friends! The God of friendship saying 'ahem, ahem' maybe? I thought the illustrations were cute.

  • Olivia S

    3.5 stars

    Nothing obviously amazing about this book, but I found it kind of charming in a simple way. It rains hearts one day, and Cornelia catches a bunch of them and makes them into customized valentines. Then she sends them off to her friends, and it never rains hearts again. Weird, but charming. Would display. Simple, not too much text. 3+

  • Diana

    Odd book. I mean, I liked it, but it was odd. I did enjoy seeing how the hearts turned into valentines that reflected their recipients so well, but the story felt strange and a little choppy. And I'm still not sure what to make of the ending...

  • Carolyn Jeziorski

    I enjoy the illustrations in this story. The text is simple—a little girl catches hearts and makes valentines for her friends. I used it as a read aloud and tried to get kids to guess who each valentine might be for.

  • Karin

    Children's literature picture book Valentine's Day
    Pk-1

    Finally a Valentine's Day book. The raining hearts are turned into thoughtful cards for those dear to Cornelia. Very cute book that made me smile. I'm sure it would make my students smile as well.

  • Brittany

    A cute book about hearts raining from the sky and a little girl gathering them to make valentine's for her friends. Alistair (2) asked for this one at bedtime a lot.

  • BiblioBeruthiel

    Possible valentine's day storytime book.

  • Kitsune

    Unlikely to clarify Valentine’s Day for children.

  • Leslie Butler

    Great for Valentines day retelling of events!

  • Kareena

    Story is cute, but the art is just so small on the page. Used as a story on the wall, it worked, but the kids didn't love it.

  • Morgan

    Read this today at work to Kindergartners for outreach and it was very sweet. Also appropriate for today specifically because it rained all day long.

  • Kay Mcaloney

    Very cute and imaginative story.

  • Tammie

    Bought this book for Valentine's Day and it was a hit with my Kindergarteners! Great story with cute illustrations.

  • Lisa

    I'm not sure I understand the concept of raining hearts, I feel I am missing something in terms of the story line but I loved the illustrations. Soft colored pencil drawings.

  • Rose Rosetree

    What a magnificent title for a book:"The Day It Rained Hearts."

    Being a person with very strong emotions, many days, for me it's as though "The Dew on the Grass Is Made of Hearts." No wonder I'm eager to find out what Felicia Bond (both author and illustrator here) has to say about this meteorological marvel falling from the sky.

    Turns out, the heroine of this picture book decided to make "perfect" Valentine's Day cards out of the hearts that she gathered.

    Me? I would have slapped them into my body, just on the chance that I might safely become more loving, learn more about love. (Because there's always so much more to learn.)

    But Cornelia Augusta, the heroine, is far more visually talented than me, for sure. No wonder...

    CORNELIA TURNED THAT LOVE INTO A CREATIVE CRAFT PROJECT

    For sure, crafty readers might get some fine craftsy ideas from this book. Plus, picture books usually are mostly about literal, objective reality.

    Altogether, this book works just fine. Although, personally, I found it pretty disappointing. And yet...

    The illustration and sentiment of the last page? Definitely my favorite part.

  • Matthew

    I guess I wanted to see more about the people Cornelia sent the Valentines to. I did not relate to the end of the book and felt like it was disconnected from the rest of the story. I did not read it to my daughter because I felt like it was a little wordy for a two-year-old. It might be a different reaction if a girl were to be my audience but then again, I'm not sure I would love for my kids to be obsessed with sending out valentines. This book overall was just a little off and ended in a confusing and abrupt way.

    This might not be a fair review since I only gave it one chance and my audience were two young boys.