If You Find a Rock

What do you remember collecting as a kid? My grandpa collects rocks and passed this interest onto his kids and grandkids. I loved bringing home neat rocks that I found. I thought of him as I read this book. If You Find A Rock is simply magical. It has great descriptions of rocks and the things that you can do with them. One of my favorite pages was, "Or you might find a big mossy rock by the side of a long, steep trail. Then you have a resting rock, and as you sit down you feel the cool moss squush beneath you." - because it reminded me of the Pacific Northwest (where I live). The photos are hand-tinted pictures and are a perfect match for the text. There's a sense of peace and calmness as I read this book. All readers (and listeners) will appreciate the beauty and wonder of Nature. If You Find A Rock celebrates the simple pleasures. Written in the second person, the repetition of "you" involves the reader and can also open up discussion between adults and children. By slowing down to really notice your surroundings, you may be lucky enough to find: skipping rocks, sifting rocks, wish rocks and anything rocks. It's easy to see why this book has won numerous awards such as: The John Burroughs List of Nature Books For Young Readers, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award Winner, and a Parent's Guide Children's Media Award Winner. A wonderful book any time of the day, I think this will be a treasured and often requested book in any child's library. Armchair Interviews says: Share this wonderful book with your favorite collector or nature lover.

Since I was a little boy, long, long ago, I have had a fascination for rocks. As I grew older I cannot count the hours I have spent in creek beds, hill sides, fields and on dirt roads, first with my children, then with my four grandsons, looking for, talking about, wondering about and simply "seeing" rocks. This wonderful small volume says it all and captures the beauty of rocks and the beauty of children as they explore and expierence them. The lyrical prose/verse that tell the story of rocks is a pure joy to read. The photographs of children and rocks will touch anyone who who enjoys the company of small children and of rocks. Barbara Hirsch Lember has done a wonderful, artistic job with her camera and technique and Peggy Christian has given us some very impressive text. This is simply a well done and beautiful book and I am quite sure that you and your child or grandchild will get as much pure joy from it as I have. I do highly recommend you add this one to your library. I like another reviewer, first check this one out at the library but then went ahead and purchased my own copy. Read it and enjoy!

What a marvelous book. It grabs and hold your interest and the interest of my 1, 3, and 6 year old. We borrowed this from the library and today I am purchasing it online. This well written book shows the joy of rocks. Most of us have at one time or another have kicked a rock in front of us. Now you can learn why! Many of us have sat on a rock and now we see why it was such a perfect place to sit. Introduce your children to the wonders of the world around them with this exceptional book. Now I am on a mission to find any other books by this author. This is not a rock identification book, but rather a book that teaches observation and appreciation of rocks.

This wonderful book is a great way to begin a lesson on rocks and minerals! It's imaginative and beautifully written. My third grade class loved it! I will use it every year to begin our inquiry-based science unit on rocks and minerals! The creative way to classify rocks was a very nice way to begin the topic of rocks and minerals with the students! We even started our own collection, using Christian's unique way of classifying them!

Wonderful prose, invitingly tempting pictures of children and rocks...my rock-crazy toddler loves having this book read to him. Who wouldn't love a book about the wonder of rocks?