A Rock Can Be . . .

Rocks may seem like boring objects—until you discover that rocks can spark a fire and glow in the dark. Through rhyming text and glowing illustrations, discover how rocks decorate and strengthen the world around them.

NYC Reads 365 Recommended Reading List

“"What can a rock be? 'Tall mountain / Park fountain / Dinosaur bone / Stepping-stone.' The ideas expressed in this picture book's pithy text are varied and wide-ranging. Each two-word phrase appears on its own page, accompanied by a luminous illustration. While some concepts will be obvious to children from the words alone, and others are made clear by the pictures, a few ('Fire sparker,' 'Crusty dome,' 'Food grinder') may need further explanation. The sometimes cryptic phrases create a natural guessing game, and an appended section offers a paragraph of text explaining each one. Moldovan illustrator Dabija contributes a series of dynamic full-page and double-page images created with traditional and digital media. Her compositions, color combinations, and use of light are particularly fine. Similar in concept to Salas and Dabija's previous picture books, A Leaf Can Be . . . (2012) and Water Can Be . . . (2014), this beautiful picture book makes an excellent classroom read-aloud, challenging children to puzzle out the ideas in the poetic phrases and to broaden their thinking about rocks." Booklist”

"...this beautiful picture book makes an excellent classroom read-aloud, challenging children to puzzle out the ideas in the poetic phrases and to broaden their thinking about rocks." —Booklist

"Purchase for your rock hounds or where the earlier books in this series are popular." —School Library Journal

"The economy of language and breadth of imagination suggests a broad audience for this wide-ranging and inventive exploration." —Kirkus Reviews

Laura Purdie Salas is the author of more than 135 books for kids, including If You Were the Moon, Lion of the Sky, theCan Be… series, and Bookspeak! Poems about Books. Poetry and rhyming nonfiction books are her favorite things to write. Laura loves to do author visits, writing workshops, and teacher inservices. Read more about Laura and her work at laurasalas.com. Violeta Dabija lives in Moldova, a small Eastern European country. She has a strong traditional art background, a BA degree in Fine Arts/Graphic Design and 10 years of experience as a children's book illustrator. She works in both traditional and digital media and often mixes them to produce delicate and atmospheric illustrations with a traditional feel. She has illustrated about 25 children's books and she enjoys creating magic pictures and unique environments for her characters.

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