SOURCBOOKS, 2021
If you are already tabulating a list of the many things to do with a rock, just pause for a moment and ask yourself this: What do you get when you combine the writing talent of multi-award-winning Pat Zietlow Miller with kid-channeling illustrations by Katie Kath?
It's a fun new offering for young readers that comes with a guarantee of lasting appeal and long shelflife in classrooms, libraries, and family collections: WHAT CAN YOU DO WITH A ROCK?
Endpapers with classifications on labeled rock samples invite close inspection and also serve as a sort of field guide for beginning collectors. Then a simple text written in direct address invites YOU, the reader, to pay attention and notice rocks.
Suggestions for what YOU can do with the rocks you find expand the mundane (kick it, skip, it drop it) with lovely language and lively images. Reminders to extend the range for searching, respect areas/spcimens that should be collected only as memories, and ideas for ways to sort, catalogue, and display collections entice readers to begin a new hobby.
If this sounds a bit didactic, have no fear. The lively language, colorful spot- and full-spread illustrations, and the emerging personalities on the page portray a lovely friendship and imply some larger truths.
Noticing can lead to discovering.
Imagining can lead to creating.
Beauty and value lie below the surface of first appearances.
And, of course, sharing makes everything better.
Back matter offers further suggestions, including a brief but excellent list of titles on this timeless topic.
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