Friday, March 1, 2013

The Stone Hatchlings by Sarah Tsiang, art by Qin Leng


This story isn't perfect, but it sparked off several ideas for me, which makes it worthy of inclusion in our picture book collection.

Abby finds two stones in her backyard. Despite her family's loving exasperation, she insists they are eggs and must be hatched. Once hatched, the birds must be cared for. But birds can't live indoors forever and one day Abby must set her beloved birds free.

This is a lovely story of imagination and wonder. I especially love the picture of the birds with their speckled gray stone bodies and iridescent wings. It's not perfect; some of the perspectives in the art are a bit off and the text is a little lengthy in certain spots. Some of the pictures are too small to be seen well and there is more white space that could have been used. However, this story is not only a delightful read, despite its flaws, it also easily lends itself to a variety of activities.

First and foremost of course, would be decorating and painting stones! Creating your own imaginary friends, drawing birds, you could also use this with several bird crafts. There's a really nice bird mobile craft in Paper Scissors Glue by Catherine Woram that would work well, although it needs a little preparation. Read this story and watch your imagination fly!

Verdict: As I said, not a perfect book but a lovely sentiment and has some very delightful moments. A recommended purchase if it sparks your imagination as it did mine.

ISBN: 9781554514335; Published June 2012 by Annick Press; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Added to an order list.

3 comments:

Perogyo said...

We loved this one!! It was great impetus for my kids finding pet rocks.

Have you read Flock of Shoes by the same duo?

Jennifer said...

Ooooh, she has another? I'm excited! She's a new author to me.

Perogyo said...

Yes, this is the third by this duo. I think that Abby is the same in Flock of Shoes and this book.