Excellent nonfiction picture book to help introduce the joy of rocks to young readers. Simple academic vocabulary to build knowledge and engaging illustrations will keep young readers interested.

I don't think there are many children who can go past a good rock or stone when they see one. This book is a celebration of those children and the rocks they collect. From simply picking one up that looks nice, to having a whole collection and learning about them.

It's also a reminder to stop and look around once in a while, and be present in the moment, who knows what you will find. I am also very happy that there is a mention of some places where you can look at the rocks, but you can't remove them, such as a national park.

This is a sweet and fun book about playing outdoors. It really hits on some fun things that happen outdoors & makes you re-think the basic concept of a boring rock!

This is an adorable tale about everything that you can do with a rock and how a rock can be much more than just a rock.

What Can You Do with a Rock? provide children with even more ideas about what to do with rocks, but also talks about the different types of rocks and which ones to leave alone. Most kids think rocks are special, so this would appeal to many.

A young white child with blue hair goes for a walk and picks up a rock, demonstrating how “You can skip it…Your first tries might sink straight to the bottom. But—eventually—your rock will skip.” The child goes on to toss rocks, make noise with the rocks, sort them, study them, and explore the many places you can find rocks. The story ends at the beach where the main character befriends a girl with light brown skin and curly black hair. The illustrations use watercolors on white backgrounds, reminiscent of the work of James Stevenson. Back matter includes an explanation of the three types of rocks (igneous, etc.) and other helpful information. The endpapers feature illustrations of various rocks, captioned with their names, including rose quartz, slate, obsidian, feldspar, gold, dolerite, and many others.

This books is.perfect for the young reader in your life who notices rocks! It really celebrates all the magical things you can do with rocks and plants the seeds of interest in geology.

This is a book I would purchase for any elementary library as kids enjoy observing, playing and possibly collecting rocks. From skipping to identification, this book explores the daily explorative nature kids have and could adopt once this book is in their hands. Easy to read with illustrations bursting with additional flair, I think What You Can Do with a Rock is perfect for young readers. Additional material in the back hosts wonderful information for the collector in your life!
#NetGalley #Pat Zietlow Miller #Katie Kath #nonfictionkidlit

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I read this book to my seven-year-old niece and she loved it. And the pictures were wonderful!

I've always been a rock nerd. I was that kid who had pockets full of rocks. This book speaks to that inner child of mine! What a great way to get kids looking at the world with different ideas. Use that imagination!

Well, what can you do with a rock? This book goes over all the things you can do with a rock-notice, kick, skip, collect. . . You can go to a cave or a museum or a bridge or the Grand Canyon to see them. An important thing about a rock is the some of the beauty is inside a rock and hard to see. A rock is like a friend-choose wisely and remember that some of the friend's treasure may be hidden deep inside.

This is a great story! I love how it links rocks to friendship. It has a great message!

I am torn on this book.. Kids love rocks. I can guarantee there are rocks in multiple rooms of my house this very minute, and I even have a large rock on my front porch from when I was a kid. So, a children's book about rocks seems like it is meant to be. However, I never got a good feel for what the target age range was for this book. The illustrations and lack of significant text make this seem like it was meant for toddlers. That would make sense, as any child allowed to play in nature really doesn't need a book to tell them all of the cool things they can do with rocks. However, the information at the end of the book and suggested learning activities at the end of the book seemed to target elementary ages. While the concept behind the book is great, there really isn't much to the book itself. This was a pass from my kids.

A great book that I thought would be about imagination and nature and play. It turned into a nice story about friendship and how to treat others as well! Definitely a great addition to any kid's library.

Pat Zietlow Miller has done it again with this beautiful book that encourages exploration, science, friendship, and creativity! What Can You Do with a Rock? is a perfect blend of readability and information.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Kids, Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for a free digital copy.

A fun book about the magic of rocks and all the places you can find them, the things you can do with them, and what they all mean.

I have a four year old who is obsessed with rocks (and has been since he was 3!). He started bringing them home from daycare, and we even got him the National Geographic box of rocks for Christmas (and he loves it!) So you can understand why I was excited to see this title on NetGalley :-) It is a cute picture book showing a little girl going about her life while enjoying all the rocks around her in various ways - all things my toddler does and can relate to! I especially liked the further reading suggestions in the back - I can't wait to check them all out from the library and share them with my son too!

Some people don’t notice rocks. They walk around with their eyes straight ahead never paying attention to what’s below them. Others keep their eyes down, on the lookout for remarkable finds. And after all, rocks are pretty remarkable, aren’t they? Just think of all the things you can do with them: drop them, skip them, study them, change them. You can even share them! And that’s only the start!
What Can You Do With a Rock by Pat Zietlow Miller and illustrated by Katie Kath is a fantastic introduction to rock collecting for children, offering insight into the kinds of rocks that exist, how to organize them, and what to look for. But more than that, it is a tale about appreciating the world around us. About finding something that may be insignificant to someone else and treasuring it—whether that rock is a something or a someone! So go ahead and encourage your kids to get outside and explore. Who knows what they’ll find—or what they’ll do with it! Then ask them: what would THEY do with a rock? I’m willing to bet you’ll never get the same answer twice!
A big thanks to Sourcebooks for the early read.
Check it out yourself on October 12!

Rocks and children are best friends. Pat Zietlow Miller’s question “What can you do with a rock?” sets the inquisitive tone right away! The gorgeous endpapers caught my attention next – all kinds of rocks – from garnet to opal – whetted my appetite to read more…

“Some people don’t notice rocks,” it begins. But for those who see and appreciate them, the possibilities are endless – you can kick it, drop it or skip it on the water’s surface, sort it or just keep it. While rocks can be collected from many places, some rocks like stalactites are to be admired just where they are. And the best part – rocks are like friends – “Some sparkle right away, while others seem ordinary at first, but have treasure deep inside.”

The illustrations in the book have a calming effect. One that stands out in particular is that of a child balancing on rocks over a stream. This is especially good to teach children how artists sometimes have to make a conscious decision not to include a seemingly important part in order to shift the reader’s focus on another specific aspect – in this case, Katie Kath, by not including the child’s head, has beautifully shifted the reader’s attention to the child’s feet balancing on the rock.

The books ends with more information on types of rocks and ideas on what can be done with them. And the icing on the cake is the list of more fiction and non-fiction books about rocks, right at the end. So what are you waiting for? Get this book when it comes out in October 2021 and have a rocking good time in class!

This was a sweet story. It was about collecting rocks. That may sound boring to some, but this book makes it sound fun. The things they talk about could happen with many things a child chooses to collect. I love the lesson in friendship at the end. It just moves so well and is so cohesive of a story. I think for some children this will be a perfect book that they will want to keep and share with the kids they eventually have.

As an outdoor educator I am always looking for more books that inspire thinking and wonder outdoors. This new book from Zietlow Miller definitely hit the mark. I could use this beautiful book as the kick off to a rock study or a discovery in thee outdoors lesson. I loved her ideas throughout the book and the illustrations. It made me want to go hunt for special rocks like I did when I was a kid.