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ALL THE ROCKS WE LOVE

David Scheirer Taylor Perron Lisa Varchol Perron

A lyrical and informative celebration of ROCKS and why we love them.
Children love rocks. Rocks appear in jacket pockets, on windowsills, in the car, in their hiding places, and most often, in their little grips. Rocks are universal - they can be found in all climates, countries, and communities - making themselves available to anyone who craves the tactile pleasure of holding a perfectly sized, unfragile, unowned object. They can be collected, compared, stacked, plunked into water, painted, and shared. This book is an appreciation of their versatility and appeal, paired with the presentation of real types of rocks and their play-worthy attributes. The backmatter provides just enough extra information about each of the rocks included in the book. Written by a children's author and psychotherapist, in partnership with her geologist husband, and illustrated with both warmth and accuracy, this nonfiction ode to rocks will speak to all little hands and hearts. Lisa Varchol Perron is a psychotherapist, which helps inform her writing about the resiliency of the human spirit. She has been published in Highlights Hello, The Caterpillar, and The School magazine. Her debut picture book will be published in 2023 by Millbrook/Lerner, with several other children's books to follow from both Little Simon and Harper. She lives with her family in Massachusetts. Taylor Perron holds an AB (1999) from Harvard University and a PhD (2006) from the University of California at Berkeley. Perron conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard University before joining the Department of Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2009, where he currently serves as a professor of geology. Perron's work has appeared in Nature, Science, and Geology, among other scientific journals. He was most recently named "A Scientist You Should Know" by Discover magazine. David Scheirer is an artist living in Aberdeen, Maryland. He creates his work with ink and watercolors, and draws in a graphic, whimsical, simplified style. In his free time, he enjoys hiking, bird watching, fossil collecting, and beach combing.
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Published 2024-07-16 by Rise x Penguin Workshop

Comments

Featuring naturalistic portrayals of rocks alongside stylized, spare images of humans interacting with the natural world, it's a true beginner's guide for young rock hounds.

this calming work introduces many introductory facts about geology while capturing the boundless enthusiasm so many kids seem to have about rocks. Bright, crisp watercolors, which nicely showcase the many different textures of rocks. A lovely choice for STEM read-alouds and individual enjoyment.

What kinds of rocks do you love? Poet and psychotherapist Lisa Varchol Perron and her husband, Taylor Perron, a geology professor, have combined their different areas of expertise, with appealing, accessible, and informative results. Told in verse and accompanied by carefully composed watercolors, this simple introduction to geology opens by a river; one child looks at rocks in the grass while in the distance an adult and several other kids, one of whom uses a wheelchair, return from the waterside. Ensuing spreads depict diverse children interacting with various types of rocks, from chert to granite. A curious youngster takes pleasure in stacking pieces of shale. A fearful child finds comfort in holding a piece of obsidian. Agate makes a delightful gift for a loved one. Some activities will be familiar to readers: A bespectacled youth draws on the sidewalk with chalk as a seagull looks on; another child tosses pumice into the water and smiles as it floats. Each spread contains a four-line stanza that scans well. The useful backmatter includes excellent descriptions of the 10 kinds of rocks presented; the authors also remind readers that "some rocks need to stay put in order to preserve the geology and ecology of an area or to respect local beliefs and practices.