Reviews

Bring Me a Rock! by Daniel Miyares

tashrow's review

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5.0

A demanding grasshopper wearing a crown insists that the other insects bring him a rock! Big rocks to build his pedestal so that it is suitable for a king. So the insects bring back rocks and the king accepts most of them with little grace. One though, carried by the smallest insect is not worthy of being part of his pedestal and is rejected along with the little bug who brought it. Now the grasshopper king has created a pedestal to sit high upon with all of the rocks piled one upon another. But it is not balanced and begins to tip. Luckily though, the small pebble that the little bug brought is just right to save the day.

Miyares has written this picture book entirely in dialogue and almost all of it in the imperious and demanding voice of the grasshopper. That makes for a great read aloud where storytellers can get into the character and exaggerate it for comic effect. Then the little bug also speaks and in the end equalizes the roles of all of the insects alongside the king. The end is a welcome twist where the kind is on his pedestal but so are all of the other bugs too.

The illustrations are done in watercolor and digital resulting in a book that is filled with light and lush greens. The grasshopper and the other insects are colorful against the yellow sky and greenery and the critical pebble glows white on the page, immediately showing its importance even before it is used.

Read this one aloud with plenty of energy and dynamics and it will add plenty of zing to any summer story time. Appropriate for ages 2-5.

circleofreadersdruid's review

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5.0

Great stuff on how even the smallest of us can contribute, as well as cooperation, teamwork, and friendship. Not once did I get the "preachy" vibe; this book was all fun.

tinkeringlibrarian's review

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4.0

Not super interactive, but could be fun to work with size and speech volume. Ages 2-4. Used for a toddler storytime and a preschool/school age storytime and worked well in both!

rachel_from_avid_bookshop's review

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5.0

This story about a bully grasshopper king proves that sometimes the smallest things are the most important. Beautiful illustrations!
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