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The Umbrella
Jan Brett's New York Times bestselling picture book The Umbrella has all the rollicking fun of the woodland animals that crowd into a mitten in the snow in The Mitten. Only this time it's in a lush cloud forest as one by one, tree frog, toucan, kinkajou, baby tapir, quetzal, monkey, and jaguar crowd into an open, upside down banana umbrella until a tiny hummingbird lands and they all fall out. A shortened text for toddlers and simple Spanish phrases like Hola! add to the fun of reading aloud this lively board book.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2004
10 people are currently reading
740 people want to read
About the author
Jan Brett
107 books991 followersWith over thirty three million books in print, Jan Brett is one of the nation's foremost author illustrators of children's books. Jan lives in a seacoast town in Massachusetts, close to where she grew up. During the summer her family moves to a home in the Berkshire Hills of Massachusetts.
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."
--from www.janbrett.com
As a child, Jan Brett decided to be an illustrator and spent many hours reading and drawing. She says, "I remember the special quiet of rainy days when I felt that I could enter the pages of my beautiful picture books. Now I try to recreate that feeling of believing that the imaginary place I'm drawing really exists. The detail in my work helps to convince me, and I hope others as well, that such places might be real."
As a student at the Boston Museum School, she spent hours in the Museum of Fine Arts. "It was overwhelming to see the room-size landscapes and towering stone sculptures, and then moments later to refocus on delicately embroidered kimonos and ancient porcelain," she says. "I'm delighted and surprised when fragments of these beautiful images come back to me in my painting."
Travel is also a constant inspiration. Together with her husband, Joe Hearne, who is a member of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, Jan visits many different countries where she researches the architecture and costumes that appear in her work. "From cave paintings to Norwegian sleighs, to Japanese gardens, I study the traditions of the many countries I visit and use them as a starting point for my children's books."
--from www.janbrett.com
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 221 reviews
May 27, 2018
Carlos lives in the Costa Rican jungles. He takes his umbrella into the forest with him to find some animals that live in the forest. Little does he know what he really needs is the umbrella. He leaves the umbrella to climb a tree. All the animals find the umbrella.
The whole thing amused me. Thank goodness there were no snakes in the trees. This is one of the comedy of errors and all those animals that would normal eat each other won't leave the umbrella.
The kids enjoyed this. I mean who can resist the charms and allure of Jan Brett and her beautiful pictures.
The whole thing amused me. Thank goodness there were no snakes in the trees. This is one of the comedy of errors and all those animals that would normal eat each other won't leave the umbrella.
The kids enjoyed this. I mean who can resist the charms and allure of Jan Brett and her beautiful pictures.
November 24, 2022
Jan Brett really likes the one formula, as demonstrated by this retread of The Mitten, this time set in a cloud forest with tropical animals crowding into a child's misplaced possession. Been there, done that.
May 4, 2019
Carlos heads into the Costa Rican cloud forest near his home in this engaging animal story from author/artist Jan Brett, hoping to see some of the creatures who live there. Leaving his umbrella at the foot of a tree, he climbs up and up, unaware that a series of creatures, from a tree frog to a jaguar, jump into his abandoned possession, having an adventure of their own. Eventually deciding that he will not see any of the animals he hopes to encounter, Carlos heads home none the wiser...
With its story of a lost human object that provides a temporary home to a variety of wild creatures, The Umbrella is quite similar to Brett's better-known The Mitten (a retelling of a Ukrainian folktale) and its companion, The Hat . Although not terribly original, in terms of its creator's larger body of work, the tale is entertaining, particularly in the way it juxtaposes the animals' hi-jinks with Carlos' obliviousness to their presence. As is often the case in Brett's picture-books, the side-panels reveal a parallel narrative - in this case, Carlos climbing the tree - to the main one depicted in the central illustration. Recommended to Jan Brett fans, and to anyone looking for picture-books set in the rain forest.
With its story of a lost human object that provides a temporary home to a variety of wild creatures, The Umbrella is quite similar to Brett's better-known The Mitten (a retelling of a Ukrainian folktale) and its companion, The Hat . Although not terribly original, in terms of its creator's larger body of work, the tale is entertaining, particularly in the way it juxtaposes the animals' hi-jinks with Carlos' obliviousness to their presence. As is often the case in Brett's picture-books, the side-panels reveal a parallel narrative - in this case, Carlos climbing the tree - to the main one depicted in the central illustration. Recommended to Jan Brett fans, and to anyone looking for picture-books set in the rain forest.
December 18, 2016
While her artwork IS great, I admit it's not exactly to my tastes, and I feel like Jan Brett's stories are quite formulaic. I know the Turnip is not EXACTLY the same as this one or the Mitten, or that other one I can't remember at the moment, and neither is the Gingerbread Baby, but enough of her stories are so stinking similar that I really don't care too much for them. I have a somewhat low tolerance for stories that repeat too much (like this one and the mitten and that other one) as well as stories that literally repeat too much, like the Napping House and Green Eggs +Ham. And some Pete the Cat. I hope my child doesn't become obsessed with any of them. I dunno how many days [weeks, months] in a row I will be able to handle the repetitions. Rhyming is fine, excessive repetitions are not.
So really, the pictures are pretty great but this is just another Jan Brett story. And what's a kinkajou??
So really, the pictures are pretty great but this is just another Jan Brett story. And what's a kinkajou??
November 21, 2014
As in all Jan Brett's books the illustrations are as good if not better than the storyline itself! AND in the corner or a small box somewhere on the page is another story being said in the illustrations in addition to the big illustration.
The author in real life went to the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica she took that experience and transformed it into this child's book that even an adult would enjoy! The "glorious artwork provides a rare look at this mysterious habitat high on a mountain." quoted from the back cover of the book and I totally agree with it. The animals can all 'hid' within the environment from a human but yet still be right in front of your face in this forest. A little boy starts out his day taking an umbrella with him into the forest but he puts it down to climb a tree to see if he can find the animals better. And while he's doing that each and every one of the animals he wants to see come and play with his umbrella! Beautifully done book.
The author in real life went to the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica she took that experience and transformed it into this child's book that even an adult would enjoy! The "glorious artwork provides a rare look at this mysterious habitat high on a mountain." quoted from the back cover of the book and I totally agree with it. The animals can all 'hid' within the environment from a human but yet still be right in front of your face in this forest. A little boy starts out his day taking an umbrella with him into the forest but he puts it down to climb a tree to see if he can find the animals better. And while he's doing that each and every one of the animals he wants to see come and play with his umbrella! Beautifully done book.
March 16, 2017
Carlos goes int o the jungle to find animals, he brings an umbrella to keep dry from the heavy rains, and quickly miss places it. The jungle animals find it and go on an adventure of their own.
October 28, 2017
Fairly formulaic, but the illustrations are beautiful, especially the purple hummingbird! This is a great supplement to learning about rainforests.
July 6, 2011
A visit to the Monteverde Cloud Forest in Costa Rica inspired Jan Brett to create this book. It is a beautifully and lushly illustrated version of The Mitten only this time rain forest animals pile into an umbrella. Carlos takes his umbrella into the cloud forest to see if he can spot a jaguar, a monkey, a toucan and a kinkajou. He leaves the umbrella at the bottom of a giant fig tree while he climbs to the top to look for his animals. "Drip, drip, drip. A little puddle appears in the green umbrella." Soon a tiny tree frog slips into the puddle, overjoyed at having it to himself. But not for long! Soon he is joined by a toucan and a host of other animals - the very animals that Carlos had hoped to see. It's a fun story and the illustrations are what you would expect from Jan Brett - gorgeously detailed and colored.
April 15, 2021
This is a book about Carlos who goes into the Cloud Forest in search of a whole list of animals, and he takes with him an umbrella. Carlos drops his umbrella and starts to climb a tree to get a better look at the animals. Little does he know, all the animals, one by one, are taking over his umbrella. Unfortunately for Carlos, by the time he gets back down to his umbrella, all the animals have left except the tiny tree frog. Carlos was completely oblivious to the fact all the animals had been inside of his property. He promises to come looking the next day for them.
This book didn't excite me too much. There was a lot of repetition that, personally, I was getting bored of about halfway through. However, a child might really enjoy this type of pattern. I did really like how the leaves showed different scenes of the forest. The illustrations are most realistic than cartoony. Overall, I do think it's a good book, just not my taste. It was a little too chaotic for me but through the text and illustrations.
This book didn't excite me too much. There was a lot of repetition that, personally, I was getting bored of about halfway through. However, a child might really enjoy this type of pattern. I did really like how the leaves showed different scenes of the forest. The illustrations are most realistic than cartoony. Overall, I do think it's a good book, just not my taste. It was a little too chaotic for me but through the text and illustrations.
January 26, 2020
In this book young Carlos sets out with his green umbrella to explore the tropical rain forest. As the raindrops fall around him, he sets his umbrella down on the ground and climbs a giant fig tree in hopes of spotting the animals and creatures that make the lush tropical setting their home. In a fun twist, while he is climbing the tree in search of them, one by one several tropical visitors including a tree frog, toucan and a baby tapir all drop down into his waiting umbrella. Eventually the umbrella becomes so full of creatures that it spills over dumping them all. Carlos climbs back down and finds the empty umbrella and heads back home not knowing that the animals he had been in search of, had been right there all along.
The beautiful illustrations draw the reader deep into the mysterious setting of the rain forest and seem to tell a story all of their own. Anyone that picks up this book will enjoy them for their lush beauty. By adding a few well placed sentences in Spanish, Jan Brett envelops the reader into South American culture and through the imagination, young readers will explore and enjoy this far away land.
This book is the perfect mentor text to use across the curriculum to bring reading into geography and social studies lessons. It would also be good to read to an ELL small group and would certainly work well as a mentor text during a writing workshop mini lesson on setting or plot. It is really a delightful book.
The beautiful illustrations draw the reader deep into the mysterious setting of the rain forest and seem to tell a story all of their own. Anyone that picks up this book will enjoy them for their lush beauty. By adding a few well placed sentences in Spanish, Jan Brett envelops the reader into South American culture and through the imagination, young readers will explore and enjoy this far away land.
This book is the perfect mentor text to use across the curriculum to bring reading into geography and social studies lessons. It would also be good to read to an ELL small group and would certainly work well as a mentor text during a writing workshop mini lesson on setting or plot. It is really a delightful book.
March 1, 2022
Carlos sets out into the rainforest in search of animals. When he reaches a giant fig tree, he sets down his umbrella and climbs up into the tree, in hopes of seeing farther away. While Carlos is up in the tree, many animals climb into his umbrella. But by the time Carlos climbs down, all the animals are gone.
Set in the rainforests of Costa Rica.
Set in the rainforests of Costa Rica.
August 18, 2021
Sooooo cute, very similar to The Mitten book by the same author, but this tale takes place in the rain forest.
July 31, 2025
Cute and whimsical story, and the illustrations of South American rainforest animals are stunning and vibrant! 😍
February 14, 2013
Wonderful story, as are all of Jan Brett's books! "The Umbrella" is a fun story about a young boy named Carlos who takes a walk into the rain forest to look for some cool creatures. He drops his umbrella to climb up a giant fig tree and a tiny tree frog hops in. From there, all of the other animals in the rain forest climb in and they end going on a crazy adventure. All of the animals in the story are the ones that Carlos wanted to see so it makes it a bit humorous at the end. Jan Brett illustrates her story very vividly.
This is a perfect book for taking the students through a picture walk and allowing them to make predictions about a text based on the illustrations. Jan Brett has side pieces on every page in most of her books that shows a glimpse of what is going to happen on the next page, as well as what is happening in the "background" of the story. The students can begin retelling the story once they become familiar with it based on just the illustrations alone.
For upper elementary, this book is great for multicultural learning because Jan Brett incorporates the Spanish culture by including popular Spanish sayings on each page. This may relate to Spanish speaking kids in the class or just teach diversity amongst different cultures. Also, the book ends with no "real" ending and Jan Brett forces the reader to make their own ending about what may happen next. This would be a great creative writing assignment to have the kids write their own ending about what they think may happen.
This is a perfect book for taking the students through a picture walk and allowing them to make predictions about a text based on the illustrations. Jan Brett has side pieces on every page in most of her books that shows a glimpse of what is going to happen on the next page, as well as what is happening in the "background" of the story. The students can begin retelling the story once they become familiar with it based on just the illustrations alone.
For upper elementary, this book is great for multicultural learning because Jan Brett incorporates the Spanish culture by including popular Spanish sayings on each page. This may relate to Spanish speaking kids in the class or just teach diversity amongst different cultures. Also, the book ends with no "real" ending and Jan Brett forces the reader to make their own ending about what may happen next. This would be a great creative writing assignment to have the kids write their own ending about what they think may happen.
September 3, 2010
This is a really cute book for toddlers and it reminds me of The Mitten. It's uncanny exactly how similiar the two books are actually.
The ending in The Umbrella is adorable and the different animals that crowd the frog in the umbrella are not the average animals in most childrens books.
The illustrations are beautiful but not something I can go on too much about. The best part is the story and Julia and I both enjoyed reading this one.
**I just did a search trying to find the book I linked above. I'm a little surprised that not only the book linked above, but two of Brett's books, this one and The Mitten all have exactly the same premise. Shouldn't there have been just a little something different? I understand that it's not something only one person can come up with but at the same time two of these books are by the same author. Working like that I can write a dozen books all the same and only change the names of a few people. I'm not understanding....**
I'm going to leave my rating because it's my rating for this book. If, and that's a huge if I read her other book I mention I doubt that'll get nearly as high a rating.
The ending in The Umbrella is adorable and the different animals that crowd the frog in the umbrella are not the average animals in most childrens books.
The illustrations are beautiful but not something I can go on too much about. The best part is the story and Julia and I both enjoyed reading this one.
**I just did a search trying to find the book I linked above. I'm a little surprised that not only the book linked above, but two of Brett's books, this one and The Mitten all have exactly the same premise. Shouldn't there have been just a little something different? I understand that it's not something only one person can come up with but at the same time two of these books are by the same author. Working like that I can write a dozen books all the same and only change the names of a few people. I'm not understanding....**
I'm going to leave my rating because it's my rating for this book. If, and that's a huge if I read her other book I mention I doubt that'll get nearly as high a rating.
October 28, 2010
This is basically The Mitten, but in the rain forest. And instead of just randomly exploring, the boy is looking for animals - the same animals that are all crowding into his umbrella! As in The Mitten, the animals gradually get bigger and bigger until they're packed as tight as they can, and then it's a little teeny animal that ruins the whole thing.
This is a pretty solid addition to your library if you liked The Mitten (Brett's version, that is), or if you want more books set in the rain forest.
However, I found the story a bit lacking (we know our main character can't find any animals because they're all hanging out in his umbrella - but really, there's only ONE quetzal, only ONE kinkajou in the whole forest?) and the dialog somewhat stilted. If you have to choose between this one and The Mitten - or any other Brett work - I'd go with the other one.
Also, some people dislike The Mitten because they perceive the bigger animals as bullying the smaller ones. There's absolutely more of that in this book, and not just implied. (However, that was cut from the board book version of The Mitten, and may not be in the board book version of The Umbrella.) If this sort of thing concerns you, you should absolutely read this book before you buy it.
This is a pretty solid addition to your library if you liked The Mitten (Brett's version, that is), or if you want more books set in the rain forest.
However, I found the story a bit lacking (we know our main character can't find any animals because they're all hanging out in his umbrella - but really, there's only ONE quetzal, only ONE kinkajou in the whole forest?) and the dialog somewhat stilted. If you have to choose between this one and The Mitten - or any other Brett work - I'd go with the other one.
Also, some people dislike The Mitten because they perceive the bigger animals as bullying the smaller ones. There's absolutely more of that in this book, and not just implied. (However, that was cut from the board book version of The Mitten, and may not be in the board book version of The Umbrella.) If this sort of thing concerns you, you should absolutely read this book before you buy it.
May 3, 2016
This book is incredibly adorable and captivating. Jan Brett's gorgeous, painstaking illustrations definitely take the story above and beyond.
What I loved about this story was how the illustrations really play against and with the text. Brett designed the pages to not only show what is happening in the text directly on the page but to also hint at what animals will come next in the story as well as what is happening with Carlos as he climbs, when possibly the text isn't mentioning him at all. I think those are cute details that will especially keep younger readers pouring over the images.
The story is really cool, too, in that it takes place in the jungle and mentions animals that I don't think most children are typically taught about. They'll learn something while reading and of course it won't feel like the lesson is being forced upon them.
It's also kind of funny to read about Carlos complaining that there are no animals (in the jungle of all places) where if he'd just gone back for his dang umbrella he would have seen ALL of the animals.
I really think Jan Brett's work for children is awesome and the amount of time and effort it takes to make her paintings is amazing.
What I loved about this story was how the illustrations really play against and with the text. Brett designed the pages to not only show what is happening in the text directly on the page but to also hint at what animals will come next in the story as well as what is happening with Carlos as he climbs, when possibly the text isn't mentioning him at all. I think those are cute details that will especially keep younger readers pouring over the images.
The story is really cool, too, in that it takes place in the jungle and mentions animals that I don't think most children are typically taught about. They'll learn something while reading and of course it won't feel like the lesson is being forced upon them.
It's also kind of funny to read about Carlos complaining that there are no animals (in the jungle of all places) where if he'd just gone back for his dang umbrella he would have seen ALL of the animals.
I really think Jan Brett's work for children is awesome and the amount of time and effort it takes to make her paintings is amazing.
April 12, 2018
Brett’s illustrations are amazing with vibrant colors and full of detail. This is a book that can be read many times, because she also has another “foreshadowing” story happening along the edges of the pages. The text is an authentic depiction of the animals that are native to the Rainforest. This text makes a connection to the well-known story, The Mitten. The children can make a text to text connection between these two stories and generate a comparison discussion. The children found the accents of the animals to be entertaining. They anticipated each animal’s entrance into Carlos’s umbrella. This book does offer some human emotions through Carlos’ disappointment of not seeing an animals and gives the animals human emotions.
May 7, 2016
Book Level: 2.7
Summary - This book is about a boy who travels into the forest to venture and see if he can spot any animals. While on the look up high in a tree, he leaves his umbrella on the ground by the tree and many animals come to the umbrella.
Characteristics that Support the Genre - There are many animals in this book that are not found in other parts of the world, Spanish is spoken in the book, and the setting is specific to certain locations in the world. This book would be lots of new information about animals, language and landscape to readers that had never ben to or heard of a toucan or heard (seen) Spanish.
Ideas- the author provides much detail to support the reader in understanding the story beyond the text from the vivid and illuminating illustration
Other Suggestions - This is a great book to use when teaching students about other parts of the world and the animals they would see or the climate or even the landscape they would find there. This is also a great book to introduce working together or sharing, how the animals problem solved (good or bad).
Summary - This book is about a boy who travels into the forest to venture and see if he can spot any animals. While on the look up high in a tree, he leaves his umbrella on the ground by the tree and many animals come to the umbrella.
Characteristics that Support the Genre - There are many animals in this book that are not found in other parts of the world, Spanish is spoken in the book, and the setting is specific to certain locations in the world. This book would be lots of new information about animals, language and landscape to readers that had never ben to or heard of a toucan or heard (seen) Spanish.
Ideas- the author provides much detail to support the reader in understanding the story beyond the text from the vivid and illuminating illustration
Other Suggestions - This is a great book to use when teaching students about other parts of the world and the animals they would see or the climate or even the landscape they would find there. This is also a great book to introduce working together or sharing, how the animals problem solved (good or bad).
October 16, 2012
Notes:Jan Brett does a great job in both writing and illustrating the book, The Umbrella.
Book Review:Carlos decides to go into the rainforest with his umbrella to see some of the inhabitants of the rainforest. Once Carlos gets into the rainforest he decides to drop his umbrellaclimb a tree to get a better view and to see animals. However, as soon as he drops his umbrella and climbs the tree, the animals begin to land or go into his umbrella. The animals get crowded in the umbrella and it begins to go down the waterway, when all of a sudden the animals all fall out and the umbrella ends up back by the tree. Carlos comes down and he has not seen any animals and all the animals that were in his umbrella are gone except the frog. Carlos decides to leave and hope to come back later to see if he can see any animals.
Recommend: Children in grades kindergarten through third grade, also teachers who are teaching about the rainforest.
Book Review:Carlos decides to go into the rainforest with his umbrella to see some of the inhabitants of the rainforest. Once Carlos gets into the rainforest he decides to drop his umbrellaclimb a tree to get a better view and to see animals. However, as soon as he drops his umbrella and climbs the tree, the animals begin to land or go into his umbrella. The animals get crowded in the umbrella and it begins to go down the waterway, when all of a sudden the animals all fall out and the umbrella ends up back by the tree. Carlos comes down and he has not seen any animals and all the animals that were in his umbrella are gone except the frog. Carlos decides to leave and hope to come back later to see if he can see any animals.
Recommend: Children in grades kindergarten through third grade, also teachers who are teaching about the rainforest.
March 6, 2013
Childrens picture book, fiction
Of the books that I recently read I think this is my favorite one. The colors are bold, the style is a little different than her typical books. This story is about Carlos and his umbrella. Carlos ventures into the rainforest where he hopes to spot some animals. He goes up a tree and leaves his umbrella lying on the ground. This tale is the same as The Mitten where all different animals climb into the umbrella and the smallest one, in this case a hummingbird, lands and causes the umbrella to sink and the animals fall out. Carlos heads home disappointed he didn't see any animals except for a tree frog that rides along with him. This book also introduces a few Spanish terms.
Appropriate for ages 4 to 8
I love the style of the trees, vines and leaves being the outline and main focus in her pictures. The shapes of leaves hold images to the upcoming events and I like that there is a lot of white space left on many of the pages.
Of the books that I recently read I think this is my favorite one. The colors are bold, the style is a little different than her typical books. This story is about Carlos and his umbrella. Carlos ventures into the rainforest where he hopes to spot some animals. He goes up a tree and leaves his umbrella lying on the ground. This tale is the same as The Mitten where all different animals climb into the umbrella and the smallest one, in this case a hummingbird, lands and causes the umbrella to sink and the animals fall out. Carlos heads home disappointed he didn't see any animals except for a tree frog that rides along with him. This book also introduces a few Spanish terms.
Appropriate for ages 4 to 8
I love the style of the trees, vines and leaves being the outline and main focus in her pictures. The shapes of leaves hold images to the upcoming events and I like that there is a lot of white space left on many of the pages.
December 16, 2011
Copyright 2004
Informational
Jan Brett's remarkable illustrations are back! She uses a picture book format to show life in the Monteverde Rain Forest in Costa Rica. Carlos is a little boy who climbs a tree in the rain forest to look for animals. In order to climb the tree, he must drop his umbrella. While he is on lookout, his umbrella becomes home to many of the local animals until it becomes overfilled and they all come tumbling out, at which point Carlos returns, disappointed that there seemed to be no animals anywhere nearby that day! As always, students love searching the illustrations to find all of the subtleties and minute details. There are so many directions to go with this book with all of the beautiful plant and animal life presented. We loved looking up the animals and learning more about them!
Informational
Jan Brett's remarkable illustrations are back! She uses a picture book format to show life in the Monteverde Rain Forest in Costa Rica. Carlos is a little boy who climbs a tree in the rain forest to look for animals. In order to climb the tree, he must drop his umbrella. While he is on lookout, his umbrella becomes home to many of the local animals until it becomes overfilled and they all come tumbling out, at which point Carlos returns, disappointed that there seemed to be no animals anywhere nearby that day! As always, students love searching the illustrations to find all of the subtleties and minute details. There are so many directions to go with this book with all of the beautiful plant and animal life presented. We loved looking up the animals and learning more about them!
October 7, 2013
Growing up, I always loved Jan Brett's books, the illustration and story line always entertained. My first time reading this book was today, and it is very similar to Jan Brett's other book "The Mitten". It is pretty much the same exact thing except this story takes place in the rain forest. I like this story anyways because of the art. The illustrations are beautiful, they are bright and full of color. The illustrations have a way of enticing the reader and adding more to the story. One special thing that Jan Brett does that I absolutely love, is the smaller pictures she has framed on the outside of the main illustration; these stories also tell a story of what else is going on at the same time as the main picture. This book is also a pretty easy read except maybe for the animal names, which can be difficult.
October 12, 2014
This story is the adventure of Carlos who goes off into the jungle with his homemade umbrella hoping to find animals. While he is climbing a tree, the animals he is looking for invade his umbrella.
This is a wonderful glimpse into the world of the Costa Rican jungle. The illustrations are gorgeous and colorful. I love the leaves off to the side that show another mini illustration on the page.
Unfortunately, the text is not very interesting. There is a lot of complaining by the different animals as they crowd into the umbrella. The frog also speaks Spanish so knowing how to read it helps. Some of the animals are unfamiliar such as the kinkajou, tapir and quetzal. A beginning reader would have a very hard time reading this book.
This would be a wonderful introduction for children to this part of the world.
This is a wonderful glimpse into the world of the Costa Rican jungle. The illustrations are gorgeous and colorful. I love the leaves off to the side that show another mini illustration on the page.
Unfortunately, the text is not very interesting. There is a lot of complaining by the different animals as they crowd into the umbrella. The frog also speaks Spanish so knowing how to read it helps. Some of the animals are unfamiliar such as the kinkajou, tapir and quetzal. A beginning reader would have a very hard time reading this book.
This would be a wonderful introduction for children to this part of the world.
March 6, 2016
The Umbrella is a delightful tale of Carlos who enters the forest, listening to the drip, drip, drip of the rain, he climbs high into the fig tree. Disappointed, because he saw nothing from high above, unfortunately, he did not know of the happenings inside his umbrella down below.
As the drops of rain become a small pool, a frog finds a lovely puddle to rest in, enjoying his alone time, all to soon a Toucan bird nabs a juicy fig as it falls from the tree. Making the umbrella his place to wait until more figs fall, he takes space that the frog claimed.
As the story progresses, more animals in ever increasing size, find the umbrella a unique place to rest, until the umbrella is way to crowded and overflows.
As always, the images are lush in detail.
As the drops of rain become a small pool, a frog finds a lovely puddle to rest in, enjoying his alone time, all to soon a Toucan bird nabs a juicy fig as it falls from the tree. Making the umbrella his place to wait until more figs fall, he takes space that the frog claimed.
As the story progresses, more animals in ever increasing size, find the umbrella a unique place to rest, until the umbrella is way to crowded and overflows.
As always, the images are lush in detail.
April 8, 2014
The Umbrella is written by Jan Brett. This book is about a little boy named Carlos who wants to go deep into the jungle to watch the animals in their habitat. Carlos takes his umbrella with him into the jungle, but has to set it down in order to climb a tree. While the umbrella rests on the jungle floor, all the animals in the jungle come to investigate and explore the umbrella, each claiming it as their own. This story is both funny and ironic. The series of events that occur all involving the umbrella is very creative. The pictures are so vivid that as the reader you almost feel like you are standing in the jungle watching along with Carlos. The plot of the story is very cute and engaging.
July 22, 2014
Carlos takes his big leaf umbrella out into the Rain Forest Jungle to try to find a tapir, toucan and a kinkajou. But he doesn't find them. As Carlos begins to climb a tree he drops his umbrella upside down on the ground. Froggy leaps down into the umbrella as a puddle begins to fall. Soon toucan, kinkajou, tapir, quetzal, monkey and Jaguar are floating along in the upside down umbrella that has been flung into the river by the frisky monkey. While they are in the river Jaguar decides to hop aboard and no one argues with him as none of them want to be eaten.
The final straw is when hummingbird comes by and tips everyone in the river with her slight weight. Finally as everyone abandons Carlos' umbrella he picks it up and heads back home.
The final straw is when hummingbird comes by and tips everyone in the river with her slight weight. Finally as everyone abandons Carlos' umbrella he picks it up and heads back home.
November 21, 2016
This book is great for children ages 5 to 7 who really have an interest in nature and animals. The illustrations in this book are very detailed and they were absolutely amazing. The pictures alone could basically tell the story. However, the animals lapse into Spanish often enough to confuse the readers, since the words and phrases aren't always clearly translated. This could be really bad for the younger readers who don't really have a schema of what types of things that are in the book. One thing I really liked about this book was the vine-encased leafy side panels that reveal the tree-climbing boy on the left side and a sneak preview of the next umbrella-dwelling animal on the right side.
September 25, 2017
My 5 1/2 year-old pulled this off the shelf, attracted to the animals on the cover. I'm a fan of Jan Brett's Hedgie's Surprise and The Mitten, both of which I use for work, so I encouraged him to check this one out so I could read it. I think this one would be good for work as well. It's an amusing story with all of the animals climbing into the umbrella as the child is oblivious, and the cloud forest setting and some of the animals mentioned are somewhat unusual. I also like how Brett's stories always have additional information being relayed through smaller pictures accompanying the main illustration. My one complaint is that the umbrella wasn't always clearly depicted. Fine for a read aloud at bedtime, but I worry I'd get a lot of "I can't see!" in a classroom setting.
September 18, 2012
This book was a little different. The story is about a boy who takes his umbrella into the forest while he walks and looks for different kinds of animals that he likes. When he sets his umbrella down to climb a tree for a better look, all the animals he is looking for, all find and climb into his umbrella on the ground. In the end, the umbrella turns over in the river from too many animals being in it and all the animals run away just as soon as the boy comes back down from the top of the tree. This book is predictable because each new animal that is getting ready to come along, is pictured on the side of the previos page letting the reader know what is going to happen next.
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