Scribble Stones by Diane Alber (2019) is a shallow story with cartoonish characters, though it will fill a fun slot in a young child's reading list. And when children are looking for something to do, it may inspire a craft activity as well. Alber dedicates this book to her children "Who love to play with a giant stone pile in the backyard..."
Once upon a time, there's a pile of small roundish stones in shades of gray. They're waiting to learn their destiny. "Some would be landscaping, and some a stone pet." The main character is the last one picked (a familiar childhood disappointment) and then learns he becomes a paper weight. This dull existence changes when colorful "scribbles" and "a splatter crew" tumbles into the scene (without explanation). Somehow a short stack of paper grows into a tall pile of colorful pages called art. Like children, the scribbles and splatters tantrum when the clean white paper is used up.
"We knew that this pile was getting too tall! There is no more paper! We have used it all!"
Stone to the rescue. In a few pages time, colorful stones are traveling the planet "All because of a paper weight with a will and a way!"
Why does the paperweight get credit for the magical appearance of color in his life? And where do the additional stones come from? He (the stone is gendered male) doesn't choose his colors and his travels are without agency. At the beginning of the story, the rocks are awaiting their destiny, so where is the will? OK, maybe I'm sounding ornery. But young children learn about life by reading and rereading books like this. And to me, this story combines a lot of predestination with a thin excuse for self-congratulation.
When I visit Diane Alber's website, I wonder if good story-telling is the point. What she's got is a business.
