Customer Reviews

Everybody Needs a Rock

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Everybody Needs A Rock written by Byrd Baylor and illustrated by Peter Parnall is among my top ten favorite children's books and, if pressed to make a choice, I might say that it is my all-time favorite. My first exposure to the book was back in the 70's in one of the gift shops at one of the Smithsonian Museum branches in Washington, DC. I didn't buy it at the time, but its simple story and wonderful illustrations made an impact on me and stuck in my head. Here was a book about someone like me; here was a book about someone with a deep appreciation for rocks. The young lady in the book also had deeply felt personal values. The drawings reminded me of some of my own sketches and they said so much with so few lines and such a simple, earthy color scheme. I would forget the title and then rediscover the book in the 80's as I was finishing up my training as a geologist and then as a high school science teacher. Recently, my Mom gave me a blow-up of a picture taken of me in Badlands National Park in 1966. In the picture, I am 7 and I am sitting on the side of a rocky hill looking intently at a small rock. The picture reminds me of Rule Number 3 from the book:

Bend over. More. Even more. You may have to sit on the ground with your head almost touching the earth. You have to look a rock right in the eye.

If you know a child with a deeper than average appreciation of nature who is little bit misunderstood, give them a little validation by giving them a copy of this fantastic book. I'm still looking for the perfect rock, but, in my opinion, Everybody Needs A Rock is close to a perfect children's book.

This book has a very special meaning. When I look as this book it tells me that making a decision of any kind big of small takes time. It takes thought and concentration. As you are to pick a rock you have to look at it from al sides, just like you would have to in any decision you would make.
Decisions even as small as picking out a rock are important. Maybe you could apply these 10 rules that are read in the book and use them to solve everyday dilemmas or situations.
I think this book also tells us that the materialistic thing in life are no always what you need. Sometimes it takes just a rock to be your best friend. I would highly recommend this book to children who just think that toys or material possessions are what they need. There is a beautiful would of nature out there, and if you use your imagination even a rock can be your friend. ~ Kellie~

This book has beautiful artwork (amazing line drawings) and neat words. But its ideas apply to more than just rocks. There's something in it about the rock search being a very personal thing, and I found that applied as much to househunting as rock hunting. Get it for anyone you love.

This is one of my favorite children's books. I have given a dozen of these as gifts. I'm a rock collector and this book has helped my granddaughter understand my passion for rocks. She, like me, now always has a favorite rock in her pocket.

I am a senior who volunteers in a local elementary school helping the science teacher one morning a week with whatever she needs. (I also volunteer in the main branch of our county library.) In anticipation of a unit on rocks, she handed me a book list and asked me to check out as many as I could find. "Everybody Needs a Rock" touched me so much, I told her I was going to buy one for each of my 2 grandchildren. She said, if I was ordering, she wanted a copy also to permanently keep in her classroom. Today I ordered 3 copies and I wouldn't be a bit surprised if she ended up ordering ANOTHER one for HER grandchild! It's just a beautiful, simple, charming book with lovely illustrations. There's nothing more to say. See it for yourself.

Under the guise of giving ten rules for choosing one's "special rock", the author advises kids (and adults who read to them), to connect with nature and to act with deliberation. The line drawings are muted in color yet evocative and filled with imagination, and will be of interest to kids who have seen only traditional artwork.

I bought this book for myself at Rocks and Stuff in Chelan, Washington. We visit this store on our annual vacations and are always awed and fascinatated by what we find there.

This book is a gem, telling us the importance of rocks, all the things they can be for us. More importantly than that, it tells us about our sense of self and our place in the bigger world. All that in a kid's book.

This book will be part of a gift, along with some cool rocks, for my niece, who picks up rocks wherever she goes.

I ran across this book in a museum store in Albuquerque, NM. I quickly bought it and have it in my office - I'm a geologist by trade - and many people have since read it and gotten their own copy. I recommend it for all, even those who don't think they need a rock.

My son was given this beautiful book for his fourth birthday. Both he and my 2 year- old love the simple conversational text. As I read they scour Parnall's illustrations for hidden sketches. Ms. Baylor's text reads like advice that is to be carefully heeded...and is. My boys hold stones in their hands turning them over and over before pocketing just the right one. A wonderful gift.

Everybody Needs a Rock by Byrd Baylor is an entertaining book. It tells why and how rocks can be useful. This book tells you what to do with and how to use rocks. The illustrations are also as excellent as the writing.