"Some people collect stamps. Some people collect coins or dolls or bottle caps. When he was a boy, my father collected rocks. When he wasn't doing chores at home or learning at school, he'd walk along stone walls and around old quarries, looking for rocks. People said he had rocks in his pockets and rocks in his head. He didn't mind. It was usually true." So begins Carol Otis Hurst's inspiring biography of her father and his lifelong passion for rocks and minerals. In simple and gentle prose, we follow the story of his life, how he grew up and married, opened a successful filling station, lost his business during the depression, and finally while looking for odd jobs and work met Grace Johnson, the Director of the Science Museum. Ms Johnson was so impressed with his knowledge, dedication, and love of rocks that she to gave him a steady job as night janitor at the museum so that he could work around rocks, and that as they say, was just the beginning..... Ms Hurst's fascinating story is beautifully enhanced by James Stevenson's spare and touching pen and ink illustrations, done in quiet earth tones, that really capture the life and times of this very endearing man. With an afterword to complete her uplifting story on the jacket flap, Rocks In His Head is an engaging and nostalgic little treasure that's perfect for youngsters 5-9, and is told with great insight and affection. Never be afraid to follow your dream!

An amateur is someone who does something for the love of it and the main character of Carol Otis Hurst's wonderful, beautiful Rocks in his Head is the epitome of an amateur. In this well illustrated story, Ms. Hurst recounts the story of her father, a rockhound who was dissuaded from making a career of his first love. We follow him through his life from successful gas station owner to family man struggling to make ends meet during the Depression, all the while lovingly collecting, cataloguing, and caring for an ever expanding rock and mineral collection. The payoff comes when her dad gets a job at the local science museum after the director notices his interest in minerals and then views his personal collection. The father goes on to become the curator of the museum's mineral collection. James Stevenson's illustrations perfectly compliment this story of a triumphant amateur. Children's books with true stories like this one usually have a summary page after the end of the story to give details left out of the main book. Unfortunately, details like the father being sent to college by the director and his eventual rise to director of the museum are left for the dust jacket, a part of a children's book that is often lost. Other than this minor criticism, I think this is a 5-star book and wish there were many more like this.

I checked out this book from the library about 5 years ago for my (then) 3 year old daughter. We loved it! We've never forgotten about the story, although we couldn't remember the title. I was so delighted to find it again just now! It was so imaginatively written; I would take the words of the song written in the book and make up my own tune. It's really an interactive story a mom can have alot of fun telling.

My two-year-old daughter loves this book, which we read together with much dramatic flair. The problem of King Gordo is familiar to her -- how to take a nap when everyone else is making too much noise? Of course, King Gordo has much more control than a child. He gets to banish the noise-maker to the "Cold and Snowy Land". We make all of the noisy sound effects together (trumpets blare, flags flap, Gerald hiccups, the King snores, Phoebe sings). My daughter walks around our house now saying "this castle is TOO NOISY!" The illustrations by James Stevenson are very amusing. I think it would be enjoyable for a wide age range.

wonderfu

One word "CLASSIC"

This book was the most enjoyed book by my children when they were small. We checked it out of the public library over and over again because my girls could not hear this story enought times. My daughter is about to leave for college and I want to get her a copy to remind her of the great times we had when sharing the story. She is 17 years old and to this day she says that that is the greatest book she ever read.

A good book about being afraid at night, something that most kids can relate to. As always, Grandpa has a story for Mary Ann and Louie. He tells how he was once afraid of all the frightening things he heard at night, but the kids identify the sounds as ordinary (not scary) things. This was the first book I read from the series of books about Mary Ann and Louie and Grandpa. It is also my favorite, and a favorite of my 4 year old son.

I found a copy of this at my office and fell in love with it instantly. Being another Barbara, I could sympathize with this disappointed mouse, who "never gets what she likes for her birthday." It's simply a lovely book with beautiful pictures and a sweet story that has Barbara and her friend imagining the best birthday party ever.

This is a book of poems, written by James Stevenson. It would be an excellent choice to use to introduce a unit on poetry in the classroom. There are all types of poetry contained in this book.

We usually think of Rome when we hear about the catacombs. And we associate them with early Christianity. However, they were common for thousands of years before that time, and in many other places, such as Sicily, Tunisia, Naples and Malta. This book is richly illustrated with photographs and drawings. The text gives meaningful insight into early Christian beliefs that are discerned from the catacombs themselves. This information is not necessarily available from literary sources. The author states that the theological reason for Christian care of the dead was the firm belief in a bodily resurrection. A popular belief is that ealy Christians woshipped regulary in the catacombs and hid there in time of danger. The author states that this idea is generally erroneous. This is a very interesting book for those who love history and the study of the beginnings of one of today's major religions.

Anyone not familiar with James Haining, is missing out. Salt Lick was wonderful and unique. A treasure!

This was one of my favorites when I was little - we never owned a copy but wore out the library's. It has lots of fun sea-creature sound effects to make - a great one for reading aloud. I can't believe it's out of print.

Mr. Stevenson is back with another corn poem book. He always takes me back to my youth with his smart funny poems. I am a big fan of this man. This book is for someone from 9-109 years old. He will make you think,reflect and laugh.

Sincerely,