ROCK

A seagull furiously admonishes a rock.

Landing on the beach, the bird bites the rock, hurting its beak. Enraged, it berates the rock: “You are too small. I see you as a pebble.” The bullying quickly escalates to bleak existential threats, with the potential for evoking tears or even nightmares in sensitive children. The bird tells the rock that if it were thrown into a lake, it would be lost forever, never finding its way home, and if it does return, it will be thrown away again and again until it’s “just a speck” that risks “disappearing completely…Forever gone.” The rock is unperturbed, simply repeating “I am a rock” at intervals. The bird’s wildly disproportionate wrath is cut off only when a tan-skinned child waves it away. Wordlessly, the youngster places the titular character into an artful arrangement of other rocks in the sand, reaffirming its worth, depicted by James’ bold acrylics and inks. Still, this conclusion isn’t nearly enough to outweigh the harsh tone of the text. Because the bird addresses the rock as “you,” readers and listeners will experience the bird’s cruelty as though it is directed straight at them. Though the author attempts to convey an underlying message about maintaining a strong sense of identity as a bulwark against bullies, many children may be too distressed to uncover it.

Dismaying, with little payoff.