When You Find the Right Rock: Journaling with Wonder, Belonging, and Connection
Mary Lyn Ray and Felicita Sala’s When You Find the Right Rock is a quiet celebration of attention and belonging—of the small, ordinary things that feel extraordinary when noticed with care. Through poetic language and luminous illustrations, Ray and Sala capture the simple act of finding a rock and transform it into something magical: a story about connection, grounding, and discovery. I think one of my favorite parts of this book when reading it to our little one was pausing on lines like,
“Still, there might be times when rocks don’t seem like much to look at. But then one will surprise you—like when you notice something special about you that surprises you. Just when you were maybe feeling sort of ordinary, there it is.”
For writers and journalers, this book is a meditation on presence. It reminds us that meaning often hides in small moments—holding a smooth rock, feeling its weight, noticing its color or warmth. When You Find the Right Rock invites us to pause, look closer, and find joy in what fits just right in our hands and hearts.
In this post, you can find…
Tips for using this book as a mentor text for writing
Ways to use the book with preschoolers, grades k-5, grades 6-8, grades 9-12, and for disciplinary literacy projects
Journaling prompts linked to the book (including nature journaling)
One grammar exercise to access grammar instruction