Book Roundup: Rocks & Minerals

When I’m working on a picture book, I usually raid my local library for any and all books that I can find on the topic. It’s fun to see what other authors have written about that topic—and how many different ways authors can explore the same themes.

My picture book Can a Rock Grow? explores different shapes that rocks can form, while introducing children to the rock cycle. For the past year or two, while I was working on this book, we’ve been reading read about rock collecting, geology, and the rock cycle.

Now that I’ve finished Can a Rock Grow?, I’ve been sharing related materials, including a look at different ways people have used rocks and a variety of science experiments for studying rocks.
Now it’s time to share my reading list with all of my favorite books about rocks!

This post includes affiliate links, by the way. I may earn a small commission for purchases made through these links. If you prefer to avoid Amazon, you can find most of these books and some extras on BookShop.org.

Fantastic Picture Books:

• I'm Trying to Love Rocks, by Bethany Barton – if you haven’t read the I’m Trying To Love series yet, you really should because they are fantastically fun reads.

• A Rock is Lively, by Dianna Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long – a great book for learning about the rock cycle and other fun rock facts.

• A Stone Sat Still, by Brendan Wenzel – a fantastically simple and fun look at the rock cycle, told through the fictional role of one particular stone.

• Old Rock (Is Not Boring), by Deb Pilutti – the whimsical story of one rock explaining to his friends why he’s happy to sit in one place . . . because he hasn’t always done that.

• A Dinosaur Made Me Sneeze, by Carla Jansen – how does dust get in Martin’s nose to make him sneeze? It’s all that silly dinosaur’s fault!

• If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet, by Leslie McGuirk – find all the letters of the alphabet . . . using only rocks.

• A Rock Can Be, by Laura Purdie Salas, illustrated by Violeta Dabija – a lovely book about different things that rocks can be.

• Julie the Rockhound, by Gail Langer Karwoski, illustrated by Lisa Downey – when Julie finds a sparkly stone, she learns about rock collecting and different kinds of rocks.

• Rhoda's Rock Hunt, by Molly Beth Griffin, illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell – Rhoda loves collecting rocks, but sometimes there are too many for her to carry.

• Everybody Needs a Rock, by Byrd Baylor, illustrated by Peter Parnall – a book explaining how kids can find their own special rock because everyone needs one.
  

• Rocks in His Head, by Carol Otis Hurst, illustrated by James Stevenson – the story of an amateur geologist who fell in love with rocks as a boy and spent his life learning about them.

• A Rainbow of Rocks, by Kate DePalma – rocks for all the colors of the rainbow and more.

• How the Meteorite Got to the Museum, by by Jessie Hartland – the journey of one special rock from space to someone's yard to a museum.

• When Sue Found Sue, by Toni Buzzeo, illustrated by Diana Sudyka – the story of an archeologist who discovered the nearly complete T-Rex skeleton now displayed at the Chicago Field Museum of Natural History.

• The Pebble in My Pocket: A History of Our Earth, by Meredith Hooper – a longer story about the rock cycle and the Earth's changes over time, following the story of one small pebble.

• If You Find a Rock, by Peggy Christian – did you know that rocks could be climbing rocks or skipping rocks or even memory rocks? This book is a lyrical celebration of all kinds of rocks and the nature explorers who find them.

• Grand Canyon, by Jason Chin – while the other books on this list are more general, this book takes a closer, more in-depth look at one specific region.

• Scavenger Scout: Rock Hound, by Shelby Wilde, illustrated by Yana Popova – an imaginative fantasy story of rock collecting.

• The Wonder Rocks, by Roger Blonder – a playful look at unusual rock formations in verse, giving the rocks faces and stories.

• Petra, by Marianne Coppo – most of the other books on this list focus on science and rock identification, but this one is just a fun story about a rock.

Science, Activities, and Guides:

• Geology Lab for Kids, by Garret Romaine – a fun resource for finding experiments and activities to learn about rocks, gems, geodes, crystals, fossils, and other natural wonders.

• Is Sand a Rock?, by Ellen Lawrence – a thorough nonfiction introduction to the rock cycle.

• The Usborne Spotter's Guide to Rocks and Minerals, by Alan Woolley – a simple guide to rocks and rock identification. This guide would be a great resource for younger kids.

• Rocks, Fossils & Arrowheads (A Take Along Guide), by Laura Evert – a simple guidebook that introduces children to a number of common types of rocks.

• My Little Book of Rocks and Minerals, by Claudia Martin – a fun book explaining how rocks form and what the main types of rocks are.

• Rock Collecting for Kids: An Introduction to Geology, by Dan R. Lynch – a good introduction to rock collecting and identification for kids. This author has another book about fossils for kids, as well as regional geology guides for adults.

• National Audubon Society First Field Guide: Rocks and Minerals, by Edward R. Ricciuti - this book is a solid introduction to rocks and minerals with information about rock formation, identification, and tons of other information. This book would be a good resource for older kids.

More resources:

I didn't include my own book in this list, but Can a Rock Grow? is a fun, simple introduction to the rock cycle as well. It focuses on the different shapes that rocks can be, while showing how the rocks change over time. 

Can a Rock Grow? is now available as an eBook on Amazon, as well as in a paperback format through Barnes & Noble and other major booksellers. The hardcover will be released in June, but is available for preorder now in my online store.

Plus, I'm creating a coloring book for this book with 30+ pages of coloring pages and activities! You can order copies of both books here.