Governor General's Award for Children's Literature, Text
Scully, a young hearing-impaired girl, wants to play outside in
the rain, away from her brother Leo and her busy mother. She loves to feel the sensation of the rain running over her face. After escaping briefly to the wet green trees outside, she is grounded and not allowed to leave the house for a day. As evening approaches, Scully and her mother are able to share a special moment together watching the stars.
To see the Teacher's Guide on Rachna's web site click here.
Reviews:
This wonderful book is a carefully composed collection of moments during one of those days when parents experience exasperation. Rachna Gilmore, a talented author, magically captures a child's over-brimming love of life and irrepressible spirit of mischief and rebellion. This is not a book with a message; rather, it is a sweet story told in exquisite fashion. A Screaming Kind of Day is an engaging, "singing in the rain" book, which children will love to read.
-- Jury Statement, 1999 Governor General's Literary Awards, Children's Literature
"Now this is one book title I can relate to and I suspect a few other parents and children can, too . . . Rachna Gilmore doesn’t sugar-coat the angry interaction of the family members. She lets the story, from the perspective of Scully, who is also hearing impaired, unfold realistically. The result is a tale of heart-warming insight into the mind of a little soul trying hard to have a good day."
-- The London Free Press
"What makes A Screaming Kind of Day unique, and quite wonderful, is that Scully’s inability to hear is not her problem at all. For much of the book, in fact, it’s her solution to the problem . . . Scully is as convincingly real a human being as any child in children’s literature, and her self-acceptance, so complete it’s left entirely unspoken, represents an important step forward in the depiction of children different from what we tend to call normal. For all its brevity, Rachna Gilmore’s text for A Screaming Kind of Day was a deserving winner for this year’s Governor General’s Award."
-- Starred review, The Quill and Quire
"This wonderful child shows that, despite a small difference, some experiences are universal. The story is gently and beautifully told by Rachna Gilmore."
-- The Houston Chronicle
Rachna Gilmore is the author of many highly acclaimed children's books, Lights for Gita, and Roses for Gita. She is also the author of two early readers in the First Flight Readers series: Fangs and Me and Ellen's Terrible TV Troubles. Her books have been translated into several languages, including Urdu, Chinese and Tamil. Born in India, Rachna now lives in Ottawa, Ontario, with her husband, two daughters, and cat.
Visit Rachna's web site at www.rachnagilmore.ca.
Gordon Sauvé is a commercial artist living in Burlington, Ontario. He is the illustrator for Dinosaurs by Elizabeth MacLeod and Fangs and Me by Rachan Gilmore. Gordon based his illustrations for A Screaming Kind of Day on a family living in his neighbourhood.
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