This is an interesting picture book, but it can be very lengthy at times. I loved the story and all the different animals you see throughout the book. Overall, I am not sure if I will be purchasing it for our collection.

In this cutely illustrated children's book, a rock, Thump, gets shaken from his high perch at the very top of the mountain. Thump spends the next few millennia being chipped away by various geologic forces until at the end he is blasted by a volcano back to his lofty position as king of the hill. This humorously illustrated text gently introduces children to geologic forces that affect the world they walk on. Children will be drawn in by the illustrations.

Read with the help of my three- and five-year-old. Illustrations are subtle, and soothing, with detailed realistic animals. The words were catchy and sprinkled with hidden educational lessons. The storyline is clever and complete. I would definitely recommend it to any young age.

I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book! The story was so sweet, I love the evolution aspect and my kids loved following along with Thumps journey! They were very happy with the ending and we loved looking back through the pages and spotting all the unique animals! Definitely one we will revisit time and time again!

Thump is a rock who gets detached from his royal family of boulders who sit at the top of the Himalayas. As he rolls uncontrollably downwards, this kicks off an exciting adventure for Thump, who has any number of interesting experiences over the next several thousand years!

Throughout, he dreams of returning to his royal family in the Himalayas but those he meets along the way are not necessarily interested in Thump's story, or in helping him find his way back.

I loved this book. The illustrations were an absolute delight, and the rhyming tone of the text is likely to appeal to young readers. The only jarring note for me was the introduction of Neptune, because I feel his role could have been played better by an indigenous god or goddess.

The photos of native animals and birds at the end of the book are also a nice touch, and will help with the aim of this book - namely, getting young readers to think more about their environment, the cycle of life and their part in it.

I enjoyed this book

I liked the story about Thump and the things he encounters over the time and there is quite a variety and plenty to use as discussion points!

The story was easy to read and follow and it has a nice flow to the story.

It is 3.5 stars from me for this one, rounded up to 4 stars for Amazon and Goodreads!

This is a very cute story. My son only made it about halfway through but he is 3 so his attention span is a little short. I continued reading it, and felt like the story was nicely done. The illustration was very colorful, bright, and friendly. It’s when I got to the end of the book and I got emotional and you earned an extra star. You see I am an infertility Mom so for the author to take the extra time to make sure he knows that no matter where he’s at on his journey that he’s special just like everyone else just warmed my heart and soul. I also loved the fact that you included additional knowledge on animals that were in the book and the volcano as well as the earth. It’s extremely important for me to know that my son is not only getting a story but he’s getting knowledge that will help him in life. So you did amazing in regards to that bravo.

This is an adorable educational book about rocks and how they are formed, with just a touch of make believe. There are beautiful images of animals found in the mountains as well as some xray images of inside the earth.

This book would be a wonderful addition to any library or classroom.

Graphics and lyrical writing made reading this book a fun experience. I enjoyed how the natural rock cycle was portrayed in such a fun fashion. I also especially loved the bonus at the end of asking the reader if they had seen the animals throughout the book and encouraging the reader to go back through the book to look for them.

This was good. A little too long. I don't think it would have kept my daughters interest. Good pictures though.

Thanks @netgalley for the eARC!

Enjoyed this picture book using a stone to show what the earth is made of. It was cute. I think it's the perfect book for kids.

An unusual affair, this wants to teach us a simple geology lesson through colourful, slightly cartoonish illustrations – and the rhyming thoughts of what starts out at least as a rock high up in the Himalayas. Knocked off his perch, he tumbles down a lot, gets left there, gets picked up, gets thrown about, and has all the jolts and erosion that make something a lot smaller, before – well, either pay attention at school or get the basics of how the Earth recycles its rocky materials. There is the subsidiary lesson of how Thump (for that is his name – the title of this is not an instruction) shrinks and yet his self-esteem grows, but it's not exactly down to him that he gets to complete the cycle and find once more the place he calls home. All told, a slightly rum approach, with the verse text not the best, but if you know people that learn from strong visuals and friendly fictionalised stories like this, this is probably the way to go. I certainly don't know of any book on this one small subject that does this better, so I guess four stars are called for.

I am pleasantly surprised and enthralled with this book. We follow a majestic stone as an earthquake causes him to roll down the hill. We end up following him for thousands of years as he goes from a big boulder to a little tiny grain of sand and pops back up in what is known as the rock cycle. This was a fascinating book. At times it does rhyme, but the rhymes are harsh, and the cadence gets lost. And normally that’s a down factor for this reader but overall, I think the book works well. Plus, the illustrations are intriguing and exciting and different from what you see in most popular illustrated picture books today.