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In Times Past
an eBook on CD
by Carol Hurst and Rebecca Otis

Integrating US History with Literature in Grades 3-8.

Enliven your US History curriculum!

Teach US History using great kids books.

More Info

Everybody Needs a Rock

by Baylor, Byrd. Illustrated by Peter Parnall. (Atheneum, 1974 ISBN 068971058. Library Binding, Paperback.) Picture Book. 32 pages. Grades 1+. This book was reviewed by Carol Otis Hurst in Teaching K-8 Magazine.

Review

With her spare, poetic prose, the author gives us ten rules for picking our own special rocks, leading us through smell, taste, feel and sight. Her locale is southwestern United States and Peter Parnall's illustrations match it well. His lines trail off into the vast spaces and his figures, especially the rocks, seem to grow out of that space.

Baylor's ten rules, stated with a deadpan humor and delight in the beauty inherent in those rocks, lead the reader to look more carefully at them, using all their senses to make those observations.

There are obvious extensions here. Of course we need to assemble and carefully examine rocks, sorting them in as many ways as possible including but not solely using Baylor's ten rules. We can go on from there to a study of rocks or we can apply those rules, rewriting as necessary, to other natural objects such as shells, trees, insects, and flowers. Each of these can lead to a theme. The rules can be altered again as writing activities to become ten rules for choosing a friend, a teacher, a parent, or a home.

Related Areas of Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Site

• Also by Byrd Baylor:
  • I'm In Charge of Celebrations
  • Guess Who My Favorite Person Is
  • The Table Where Rich People Sit