With the help of a rock he’s collected, a child moving to a new house learns to embrace change and make a like-minded friend in this story celebrating our most thoughtful little observers.
Jayden notices everything. He notices the way the moon looks different every night as it peeks through the oak tree. He notices spiderweb wheels and egg freckles, mouse paws and rose petals. But most of all, Jayden notices rocks. Jayden collects a rock to go with everything: a homework rock, a Saturday rock, even enough wishing rocks to fill up a jar. But now that he and his family have moved to a different house, where the trees are too short, the color is off, and the mailbox is in the wrong place, will he find a rock to grant him courage—and help him make a new friend, maybe even a noticer like him? In a tender story for curious and observant little readers, Carolyn Crimi’s text joins with Shamar Knight-Justice’s expressive illustrations in a tale that offers comfort in the face of life’s many changes.---from the publisher
32 pages 978-1536227307 Ages 4-7
Keywords: moving, new house, friends, observing, paying attention, noticing, nature, rocks, African American and Black stories, 4 year old, 5 year old, 6 year old, 7 year old
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When you love where you live- all the things you have made "friends" with over the years, it's so hard to say goodbye and let go and trust that the next place will be just as great.
Jayden has noticed so many things at his house and he loves those things. They make his world very special. But the moving van is coming and Jayden is going to have to pack up the good things he can take with him and he's going to have to leave his moon through the trees, egg freckles and especially the very, very special rocks.
How do you get the courage to trust that the world is full of so many wonderful places and people and ... rocks?
Jayden is about to give it a try.
Recommended by: Barb Langridge, abookandahug.com
*****
Jayden notices everything. He notices the way the moon looks different every night as it peeks through the oak tree. He notices spiderweb wheels and egg freckles, mouse paws and rose petals. But most of all, Jayden notices rocks. Jayden collects a rock to go with everything: a homework rock, a Saturday rock, even enough wishing rocks to fill up a jar.
But now, Jayden has moved to a new home in a new neighbourhood and the first thing he notices is its weird colour, the trees are too short and the mailbox is in the wrong place. Immediately he says he is not going to like it, but his wise mother suggests that he give it some time. Will he find a rock that will help him have the courage to embrace this change that he has no control over? Maybe even find a friend?
Little people often find it tricky to embrace the changes that adults impose on them for whatever reason, because for many is is the certainty of routine and regularity that enable them to feel safe. But through the author's sensitive text and the illustrator's expressive and emotive pictures, they can be guided through the upheaval by learning to look for the positives in the new situation, like the fact that the short trees enable Jayden to see the moon unimpeded in its full-moon glory, rather than just peeking through the trees. And who knows what new worlds might open up to him now that he has notice and made friends with Alex, a boy as curious as himself but his focus is bugs.
Parents and teachers alike will find this a helpful way to start conversations and navigate big life changes that are looming for children, whether home or school-based, by encouraging them to concentrate on the small details rather than the big picture. They might not notice rocks in the way Jayden does, but by honing in on the child's particular interest and showing how it will stay the same or may even be better than now, focusing on the positives that are within the child's realm, perhaps the disruption may not be as traumatic as anticipated and gradually they build their emotional resilience and their anxiety diminishes.
Ideal for adding to the collection that help little people navigate the big feelings that they don't yet have the words to articulate, especially when they are out of their comfort zone.
Recommended by: Barbara Braxton, Teacher Librarian, New South Wales AUSTRALIA
See more of her recommendations:
500 Hats http://500hats.edublogs.org/
The Bottom Shelf http://thebottomshelf.edublogs.org/
