Ana and the Kitchen Rainbow

It is Saturday morning. The sun is bright. Ana is in the kitchen. She is eight years old. Her big brother Max is twelve. He reads a book at the table.

Ana has a glass of water. She puts it by the window. Then she looks at the wall. She sees something new. There is a small rainbow on the wall!

"Max, look!" she says. "A rainbow is in our house!" Max looks at the wall. He smiles. "Yes, I see it," he says. "It is very pretty."

Ana touches the wall. The colors are on her hand now. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue. Her hand is a rainbow too. She laughs. "Where does it come from?" she asks.

Max goes to the window. "Let us see," he says. He moves the glass a little. The rainbow moves too. Now it is on the door.

"Wow!" says Ana. "The glass makes the rainbow!" "Yes and no," says Max. "The sun helps too. Sunlight looks white. But it has many colors in it."

Ana opens her eyes very wide. "Many colors in white light?" "Yes," says Max. "The colors are all together. We do not see them. Water sends each color a different way. Then we see them all."

Ana looks at the glass. She looks at the sun. Then she has an idea. "Can I make a rainbow too?" she asks. "Try it," says Max.

Ana gets a big glass. She puts water in it. She puts it on the table. She waits. Nothing is on the wall. "My glass does not work," she says.

Max comes to help. "The sun is not on your glass," he says. "Put it in the bright sun." Ana moves her glass. She moves it again. Then she sees colors on the floor! Her rainbow is big and long.

"I make a rainbow!" she says. "Two rainbows in one kitchen!" Max claps his hands. "You are a good scientist," he says.

Now Ana has a new question. "Is the sky like this glass?" she asks. "Rain is water too." "Good question," says Max. "After rain, the air has little water drops. The sun goes into them. That makes a rainbow in the sky."

Ana runs to her room. Then she is back with paper and pencils. She draws the two glasses. She draws the sun and the colors. At the top, she writes "My Rainbow Book."

Then a big cloud comes. The kitchen is dark. The rainbows are not on the wall now. "Where are they?" Ana asks. "They wait for the sun," says Max.

Ana sits by the window with her book. She watches the cloud. Slowly, the cloud moves away. The sun is back. Red, orange, yellow, green, blue. "Hello again!" says Ana.