When You Find the Right Rock
by Mary Lyn Ray; illus. by Felicita Sala
Preschool, Primary    Chronicle    48 pp.
9/24    9781797214580    $18.99

This stimulating ode to rocks validates the habits of collectors while offering a gateway to those who have yet to discover rocks’ allure. The childlike prose is reminiscent of Ruth Krauss’s distinctive style: “Small rocks are to choose which to put in your pocket. Because there’s something about a rock that’s good to have in a pocket.” Mixed-media and collage illustrations elegantly reflect the mood of the text, and a variety of compositions supports described concepts as well as expands more contemplative pages to evoke a sense of wonder. Single pages and double-page spreads of rocky terrains take readers atop mountains, through canyons, along the shore, and down into the sea. The book enthusiastically proclaims that rocks are ideal for ­counting, stacking, climbing, and standing on and acknowledges that our planet itself is, essentially, a large rock; it concludes by encouraging readers to seek out a special rock to keep and assign some importance to. “Then…if sometimes you wish someone were with you (but no one is), your rock is.” Opening with the image of a child and adult out on an errand and closing with that child having secured a rock of their own, this poignant take on rocks could provide enough ­inspiration to transform an ordinary walk into an expedition full of observation.

From the ">September/October 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.