A Stone Sat Still

A stone sat still with the water, grass and dirt…

In this moving companion to the Caldecott Honor–winning They All Saw a Cat, Brendan Wenzel tells the story of a seemingly ordinary stone. But it isn't just a stone—to the animals that use it, it's a resting place, a kitchen, a safe haven...even an entire world. With stunning illustrations in cut paper, pencil, collage, and paint, and soothing rhythms that invite reading aloud, A Stone Sat Still is a gorgeous exploration of perspective, perception, sensory experience, color, size, function, and time, with an underlying environmental message that is timely and poignant. Once again Wenzel shows himself to be a master of the picture book form.

★“The wonderful mixed-media creatures and their encounters entertain, while bigger ideas suggest all kinds of conversations about perception and perspective, wildlife and habitat, local and global change, and eternity and evanescence.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review

★“Awe-inspiring.”
—Booklist, starred review

★“Wenzel scores another hit with this engaging and thought-provoking [book] . . . Stunning.”
—School Library Journal, starred review

★“A powerful kaleidoscope of nature, A Stone Sat Still is stunning.”
—Shelf Awareness, starred review

★“There’s a touch of Margaret Wise Brown to the softly musical text… the contrasts are deft and the stone an effective focal point without being anthropomorphized… [A Stone Sat Still] could occasion a pairing with Karas’ As an Oak Tree Grows or a trip to nearby rocks or trees to discuss local time, or it could just be a lulling, thought-tickling readaloud.”
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, starred review