Leslie McGuirk - If Rocks Could Sing: A Discovered Alphabet

To my rock-solid and creatively inspired friend Andrea Hamilton These rocks, which are fossiliferous sandstone, contain grains of sand and fossilized shell fragments. Thousandsmaybe millionsof years ago, the sand and shell fragments were deposited on the sea floor, just beyond where the waves break. Over many years, they were glued together by a chemical in the seawater, turning it from loose sediment into sedimentary rock. This sandstone was sculpted by being tumbled, broken, shaped, and smoothed by the waves. The rock used for the letter X, found in Maine, was the only one not found in Florida. Copyright 2011 by Leslie McGuirk
Rock styling and props by Leslie McGuirk
Photographs by Denise Ritchie: deniseritchie.com
All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Tricycle Press, an imprint of Random House Childrens Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York. randomhouse.com/kids Tricycle Press and the Tricycle Press colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
McGuirk, Leslie.
If rocks could sing : a discovered alphabet / Leslie McGuirk.
1st ed.
p. cm.
Summary: Displays photographs of rocks that resemble the letters of the alphabet and objects represented by each letter.
[1. RocksFiction. 2. Alphabet.] I.

Title.
PZ7.M4786235If 2011
[Edc22
2010019206 ISBN: 978-0-582-46370-4
eISBN: 978-0-307-97525-6 v3.1

Vision is the art of seeing what is invisible to others.
Jonathan Swift This is a book born from the sea. Some people walk the beach searching for shells, all the while passing by the little rocks that make up this book. This collection began more than ten years ago, as I discovered rocks on the Florida seashore that looked like letters. It became a real passion of mine to complete the entire alphabet. 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 natural world is rich with inspiration. Finding these letters, and rocks that looked like objects to match them, was a process of believing that anything is possible. These are beautiful sculptures, little works of art. I feel honored to share these rocks with the world. As a child, Leslie McGuirk wanted to be a game warden in Africa.