If You Find a Rock

In this photo essay style picture book we see children finding different kinds of rocks. The rocks aren't classified by mineral or structure but rather by use: skipping rocks, splashing rocks, climbing rocks, resting rocks. Of course, the rocks aren't just listed for us. There are subtle and evocative photos of rocks, hand tinted in a way that creates a kind of dreamy timelessness. On the opening page we read:

If you find a rock,
a nice flat, rounded rock
that sits just right
in the crook of your finger,
then you have
a skipping rock.

This is an accessible meditation on interacting with one element of nature and a great introduction to observation skills or to a unit on nature, rocks, or geology.

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• Sylvester and the Magic Pebble by William Steig. (2010, Atheneum. ISBN 9781442416673. Order Info.) Picture Book. 42 pages. Gr K-3.
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• Rocks in His Head by Carol Otis Hurst. Illustrated by James Stevenson. (2001, Greenwillow. ISBN 9780060294038. Order Info.) Picture Book. 32 pages. Gr PreK-3.
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