Byrd Baylor

Describes the qualities to consider in selecting the perfect rock for play and pleasure.

Everybody needs a rock

Sarah Sammis

My son takes after my grandmother. She loved to collect rocks of all shapes and sizes. She had them in her yard and in her house. Her kitchen window sill was covered in little jars full of the smallest rocks she had found over the years. Now my kitchen window sill if filling up with peanut butter jars of Sean's growing rock collection.

Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor and illustrated by Peter Parnall captures perfectly their love of rocks. The little girl in the book (shown on the cover) outlines a series of rules for finding the perfect rock. Rule #4, for example, is "Don't get a rock that is too big. It won't fit in your hand right and it won't fit in your pocket." My grandmother wasn't one to follow rule number 4 as the boulders in her front yard attested to. Sean though, does so far live by rule #4 and I have learned to always check his pockets before doing the laundry.

Every rule is beautifully illustrated by Peter Parnall's line drawings. They are colored with a limited range of earth tones. Mostly though, they are black and white. The girl, always blending into the rocks. Be the rock, she seems to be saying.

Everybody needs a rock

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