Books For Keeps
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Articles
  • Past Issues
  • Latest Issue
  • Authors and Artists
  • Latest News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
May 18, 2021/in Picture Book 5-8 Infant/Junior /by Angie Hill
BfK Rating:
BfK 248 May 2021
Reviewer: Clive Barnes
ISBN: 978-1406395570
Price: £12.99
Publisher: Walker Books
Genre: Picture Book
Age Range: 5-8 Infant/Junior
Length: 96pp
Buy the Book

The Rock from the Sky

Author: Jon Klassen

At the start of Jon Klassen’s new epic five act picture book there are four characters: a turtle, an armadillo, a snake and a large rock, which enters from above. The first three are looking at us sideways. The turtle and the armadillo wear a bowler hat, the snake wears a beret, and the rock is just a rock. The turtle is rather snappy, unfriendly, and reluctant to admit that he might have done something foolish or to accept help when he has. Consequently, he spends the second act of the book upside down. In the third act the armadillo and the turtle sit on the rock and imagine the future, into which enters another rather scary character on tall spindly legs from a different galaxy of the imagination. In the next act, the snake and the armadillo sit under the rock and admire the sunset. The turtle approaches wondering what they are doing, but by the time he makes his slow way to join them, to his disappointment, they are not doing it anymore, and he feels left out. In the last act, the turtle declares he will leave and may never come back. This is the cue for the return of the scary character from the future and the intervention of a second rock. As in Klassen’s other minimalist tales, space on the page, actors and dialogue are deployed with absurdist skill to create a story that, while apparently inconsequential, has humour, suspense and danger. Through the character of the turtle, the arrangement of the characters on the page and their movement across it, it touches knowingly on the perils of loneliness and the comfort of friendship; and on existential threats, perhaps like pandemics, that can come from anywhere and nowhere.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share on Pinterest
  • Share on LinkedIn
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png 0 0 Angie Hill http://booksforkeeps.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/bfklogo.png Angie Hill2021-05-18 16:04:272021-05-30 14:29:20The Rock from the Sky

Search for a specific review

Author Search

Search







Generic filters




Filter by Member Types


Book Author

Download BfK Issue Bfk 272 May 2025
Skip to an Issue:

About Us

Launched in 1980, we’ve reviewed hundreds of new children’s books each year and published articles on every aspect of writing for children.

Read More

Follow Us

Latest News

Choice and reading relevant to their interests = reading for pleasure

June 11, 2025

Ross Montgomery wins the 2025 FCBG Children’s Book Award

June 7, 2025

Michael Rosen and Emily Gravett IBBY UK nominations for Hans Christian Andersen Awards 2026

June 4, 2025

Contact Us

Books for Keeps,
30 Winton Avenue,
London,
N11 2AT

Telephone: 0780 789 3369

ISSN: 0143-909X (this is our International Standard Serial Number).

© Copyright 2025 - Books For Keeps | Proudly Built by Lemongrass Media - Web Design Buckinghamshire
Take Off Your Brave: Poems Just for You The Magic Ocean Slide
Scroll to top