New Children's Book Features Real Rocks Shaped Like Each Letter Of The Alphabet

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New YORK ,New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, United States of America (Free-Press-Release.com) June 22, 2011 -- Contact:
Laura Mancuso
Tricycle Press | Random House Children’s Books
510-285-2951 | lmancuso@randomhouse.com

On a stretch of Florida seashore, nature has revealed itself to Leslie McGuirk in a way that can only be called astonishing. There, she has found rocks in the shape of each letter of the alphabet, as well as rocks resembling the objects that begin with each letter. A is for Addition, and there are rocks in the shape of the numbers; B is for Bird, and there is a rock “bird” sitting on a nest with an egg. Full-color photographs of this unique collection are featured in IF ROCKS COULD SING: A Discovered Alphabet, a new picture book from Tricycle Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books.

“This collection began more than ten years ago, as I discovered rocks on the Florida seashore that looked like letters,” said McGuirk. “It became a real passion of mine to complete the entire alphabet.” The hardest letter to find, she said, was the K. “For many years, I waited for the letter K to appear. There was nothing I could do to make it show up. I understood that nature has its own timing, and my job was to be aware and expectant.”

The rocks featured in the book are fossiliferous sandstone, made from grains of sand and fossilized shell fragments that are “glued” together by a chemical in Florida seawater. The rock used for the letter X, which the author found in Maine, is the only one not discovered in Florida.

Leslie McGuirk is the author-illustrator of many children’s books, including the Tucker Series, Pip the Penguin books, and Wiggens Learns His Manners at the Four Seasons. For more information about IF ROCKS COULD SING, and to view the book trailer, visit www.ifrockscouldsing.com.

Random House Children’s Books is the world’s largest English-language children’s trade book publisher. Creating books for toddlers through young adult readers, in all formats from board books to activity books to picture books, novels, and ebooks, the imprints of Random House Children’s Books bring together award-winning authors and illustrators, world-famous franchise characters, and multimillion-copy series. The company’s website, kids@random (www.randomhouse.com/kids) offers an array of activities, games and educational resources for children, teens, parents, and educators. Random House Children’s Books is a division of Random House, Inc., whose parent company is Bertelsmann AG, a leading international media company.