Pebble: A Story About Belonging

by Susan Milord, Susan Milord (Illustrator)

Overview

There once was a pebble on a rocky shore. It was small and round and nearly smooth.

Amid a seascape dotted with endless rocks, one pebble yearns to be special.

Can you find the pebble?

Susan Milord's clear prose and exquisite collages offer a timeless message about finding one's place in the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060858070
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	10/09/2007
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.25(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Susan Milord is the creator of many wonderful books for young readers, including The Kids' Nature Book, Willa the Wonderful, Love That Baby!, and Three About Thurston. She lives in Vermont, where she keeps an eye out for special pebbles.

Susan Milord is the creator of many wonderful books for young readers, including The Kids' Nature Book, Willa the Wonderful, Love That Baby!, and Three About Thurston. She lives in Vermont, where she keeps an eye out for special pebbles.

Editorial Reviews

A gentle story about self-acceptance and finding one’s place in the world. Children will recognize the universal themes of longing to be special and searching for a way to belong, making this a good choice for sharing aloud and eliciting discussions.” — School Library Journal

From the Publisher

PreS-Gr 2- A gentle story about self-acceptance and finding one's place in the world. A small, round pebble on a rocky shore longs for more to life. As it searches for a way to be "special," the other rocks encourage it to "Stop dreaming....You are what you are." The pebble tries, but the empty feeling persists. One day, a small boy visits the beach with his parents and is filled with wonder by his surroundings. When it's time to leave, he hunts for something to remind him of his day. After considering and rejecting a shard of glass, a feather, and a shell, he picks up the pebble, and as he wraps his fingers around it, they both realize that they have found what they were looking for. Collages on textured backgrounds create soft, colorful illustrations that depict the seashore and interpret the text. Children will recognize the universal themes of longing to be special and searching for a way to belong, making this a good choice for sharing aloud and eliciting discussions.-Margaret R. Tassia, Millersville University, PA

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School Library Journal

The subtitle immediately lets readers young and old know the lay of the land: This is a story that wants to direct, even control, emotional response. It begins with a personified pebble on a shoreline, "small and round and nearly smooth." The pebble feels the wind, rain and sun and longs to be a part of something bigger. It's too small to be part of a stone wall and too big to be part of a sandcastle. A boy comes by the shore with his family and is "filled with a sense of wonder" (surely no small boy ever thought those words to himself) at the sun and sea. He wants to find a keepsake-not a shell or a feather or a bit of sea glass. What he chooses is the pebble. The boy is delighted to have this "pocket friend" and the pebble has found what it sought. The pictures are quite attractive, with lovely textures for sky and shore, and many limpid shades of blue and stone. But the overly sentimental story will need the right audience. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews