www.ijb.de/en/home/the-white-ravens "Sacha Cotter and Josh Morgan, the award-winning
couple behind such marvellous picture books as The Bomb (Huia Publishers, 2018), have created yet another gem. In A Guide to Rocks, they address the still all too prevalent prejudice that boys must not acknowledge, let alone talk about troublesome emotions. When little Charlie starts feeling confused and worried and attempts to discuss this problem, which materialises as a small pink rock, his embarrassed father quickly shushes him.
He hands his son the ancient looking, A Gentleman’s Rule Book for Rocks. Yet the more the parent urges his child to deny and ignore his feelings, the larger the rocks grow, until the two are separated by a huge wall of boulders. The warm, empathic text and the lively digital illustrations full of humorous details lighten the mood and provide a hopeful way out by having Charlie and his Dad finally start talking to each other. And – surprise – slowly but surely, they manage to get rid of their
stony conundrum. (Age: 4+) [CS]Review from Rebekah Lyell at www.nzbooklovers.co.nz "It is told with compassion and care, and the trademark Cotter and Morgan humour. It's emotional but perfectly pitched to the younger reader with the story told with empathy and understanding. Adults will love reading this book too, with a message many of us need to hear as well as plenty of opportunity to have fun with it during read aloud sessions."
2025 Storylines Notable Book Award winner
Storylines Notable Picture Books (age range from birth to 8 years)
Lately, things have been getting Charlie down. It’s like he’s got a big rock that just won’t go away. He talks to Dad about it, and Dad brings out a dusty old book with a lot of tough rules. The first rule is you don’t talk about rocks (feelings).
But the rules make things worse – Charlie’s ‘rock’ gets bigger, and everything feels dark and scary. They need some new rules – fast.
Māori edition also available He Taonga Te Toka
Sacha Cotter is an award-winning writer living in Wellington. She has a Graduate Diploma in Teaching and Learning, and spent six years teaching in New Zealand and Spain. She has completed several film courses, and her screenplay Wasabi Peas was a semi-finalist in the L.A. Comedy Shorts Film Festival in 2013.
Sacha has collaborated on four picture books with illustrator, writer and designer Josh Morgan (Te Aitanga-a-Māhaki, Rongowhakaata).
Paperback / softback 44pp h270mm x w240mm 300g