What Can You Do with a Rock?

by Pat Zietlow Miller, Katie Kath (Illustrator)

Overview

From award-winning author Pat Zietlow Miller, a timeless story about creativity, exploration, and friendship

What can you do with a rock?

You can skip them.

You can sort them.

Best of all, you can share them.

Rocks are simple, but the things you can do with them are endless. Rocks can build, sparkle, and tell a story. They can be memories. They can even be a little bit magic. This ode to curiosity and creative play from New York Times bestselling author Pat Zietlow Miller and acclaimed illustrator Katie Kath is bound to inspire.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728217635
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	10/12/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	57,836
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.30(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD550L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Pat Zietlow Miller lives in Madison, Wisconsin with one wonderful husband, two delightful daughters and two pampered cats. She is the author of the picture books SOPHIE'S SQUASH, which won the Golden Kite Award for picture book text from the SCBWI, and the New York Times bestseller BE KIND, among others.

Katie Kath is the illustrator of numerous books for children, including Come Over to My House, by Dr. Seuss, and Home Base: A Mother-Daughter Story, by Nikki Tate, which was named an American Library Association Notable Book for 2021. Katie lives in the North Carolina woods with her family, a spunky dog, an ornery cat, and six chickens that lay a rainbow variety of eggs. To see more of Katie’s artwork, you can visit www.ktkath.com.

Editorial Reviews

08/23/2021

“Some people don’t notice rocks.” But a light-skinned child with blue hair and an eager expression is the very model of a rock connoisseur in Zietlow Miller and Kath’s picture book, which offers a litany of answers to the titular question. As watercolor illustrations celebrate the child’s passion—showing rocks in piles, boxes, and natural settings—text reveals that a rock can be kicked, skipped, dropped, sorted, studied, and even used as a currency of connection, among other autonomy-building options (“Should your tiny white rock go with other tiny rocks? With other white rocks?... Only you can decide”). The book’s premise stretches a little thin when reaching for metaphor (“People are like rocks. Some sparkle right away”), but this is a lively, emotionally resonant celebration of rocks as well as humans’ ways of connecting with and learning about the natural world. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"The story’s opening draws readers right into the world of rock appreciation... The child’s adventures with rocks and making friends form a visual story that complements the conversational, conspiratorial text. By the end, the story widens its scope to sweet life lessons as it turns effortlessly toward friendship and the wisdom transferable from rock discovery to friend discovery. A delightful invitation." — Kirkus Reviews

"This is a lively, emotionally resonant celebration of rocks as well as humans’ ways of connecting with and learning about the natural world." — Publishers Weekly

"A lovely, unconventional tribute to rocks and their admirers." — Booklist

"Author and illustrator of this joyful book give equal respect to every kind of rockhound, following a jaunty, blue-haired girl with a sidelong grin who collects, sorts, paints, makes mosaics, pitches, and contemplates." — Horn Book

"What an inspiring book to show children the creative ways to play with rocks…" — Imagination Soup

From the Publisher

★ 11/01/2021

PreS-Gr 2—What a rocking picture book this is! With a bit of geology, a bit of psychology, and a lot of fun, the author and illustrator give us a small active person of indeterminate gender and neutral pronouns in the text (and longish flippy blue hair in the illustrations), who delightedly progresses from kicking rocks, to picking them up, to skipping, dropping, sorting, studying, creating with them—and finally, using them as a stepping stone to friendship. Harking back to such gems as A Hole Is to Dig, this book in its final pages provides a quick intro to geology and some further reading, with both fiction and nonfiction suggestions. In the animated, realistic, blue-washed watercolors, perspectives vary and figures are anchored by thick, fuzzy lines. Landscapes and interiors are uncluttered, but detailed enough to convince. Many compositions featuring a path with an entry- or exit-point help to reinforce the reader-oriented viewpoint. The clear, simple, second-person text offers encouragement and elides gender, but eventually the main character and brown-skinned friend with hair in two meatball-shaped buns are wearing what most children will perceive as girls' bathing suits. VERDICT A winning blend of science, playfulness, and the warmth of personal connections, with lively, engaging illustrations, this book deserves rock-star status—Patricia D. Lothrop, formerly at St. George's Sch., Newport, RI

School Library Journal

2021-07-14
Rocks are varied and versatile—not unlike good friends.

Rocks often go ignored, the narrator remarks as a blue-haired White child explores along a stream. The text continues in second person as it explains what those who notice the “magic” underfoot know: You can do a lot with a rock. You can kick it down the street, following it along. You can skip it, drop it, collect more, and sort them. You can study them, use them for art, keep them, or share them with a good friend, then make new rock memories with that friend. The story’s opening draws readers right into the world of rock appreciation, as though it’s a secret society that’s free to join. The child’s adventures with rocks and making friends form a visual story that complements the conversational, conspiratorial text. By the end, the story widens its scope to sweet life lessons as it turns effortlessly toward friendship and the wisdom transferable from rock discovery to friend discovery (“Some sparkle right away, while others seem ordinary at first, but have treasure deep inside”). Endmatter offers information, advice, and further reading about rocks and rock collecting; the beautiful endpapers with artistic renderings of labeled samples of different kinds of rock are worth perusing in and of themselves. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A delightful invitation. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews