I, Rock: A Geology Tale

Just as young Luis begins a classroom presentation on a senior citizen interview, a gray, googly-eyed rock peers out from beneath the child’s shoe, asking whether the students would like to hear the tale of a four-billion-year-old. The ensuing geologic origin story is chronicled by an in-no-way-stony-faced narrator who explains Earth’s inexorable forces via an unstoppable parade of onomatopoeia (“KABLOOEY!”). Slivensky (This Wolf Was Different) recounts how the rock’s been shaped by a variety of encounters and forces—incredible pressure and heat, volcanic explosion, tsunami, avalanche, even a visit to a pterosaur nest—until it lands on a mountain for “the past few million years” and then hitches a ride on Luis’s shoe. The nonstop pace can occasionally feel overwhelming, but digitally colored drawings by Stilwell (Cake Vs. Pie) provide ample eye candy (a sedimentary rock formation is illustrated as an sweetly comic group huddle) throughout a stone-focused read that strikes a rich vein of fun. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Back matter and cameos by a glasses-sporting rock provide additional info. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Ammi-Joan Paquette, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Aliza Hoover, CAT Agency. (June)