A STONE IS A STORY

The many transformations minerals may undergo in the formation of stone are described in spare, lyrical text.

“A stone has been wrenched apart by roots. // Crushed and dragged by a glacier. / Swept up in the foam of a rushing river. // Molded. / Carved. / Ground down to a speck of sand / and sent to the sea.” And so it goes, various geologic forces eroding, then compressing the stone so that it cycles over the pages from igneous to sedimentary to metamorphic rock. These words do not appear in the primary text; rather, they are reserved for an author’s note that describes the fundamentals of geology. The narrative itself consists of wispy lines set against muddy watercolors that will have readers wondering whether the author is referencing one stone or many—as well as when the story will begin. Adults flipping back and forth from the backmatter to the main text will see how the stone’s progress tracks from one type of rock to the next, but concrete young thinkers will likely be befuddled. Just how does the stone that began as magma find itself “thrust upward, / skyward, / …risen / high / into the heart of a mountain”? The illustrations are likewise diffuse and even at times mystifying. Deb Pilutti’s Old Rock (Is Not Boring) (2020) covers similar ground with both clarity and a compelling central character; share it with budding geologists instead. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A stone may be a story, but this is not.