• Age: 9 to 12
• Grade: 4 to 7
• Reading age: 9 to 12

Petra loves rocks, and collects them with a passion. She keeps them in her bedroom, in the kitchen cupboards, between the cushions of the living-room sofa, even in the bathroom medicine cabinet. Petra’s parents do not love rocks. At least, not as much as Petra does. To convince her to winnow down her collection, her parents offer her a wonderful treasure—a rock box, with a selection of the rocks and minerals found in her home province of Newfoundland and Labrador. But, wait, is one of those rocks winking at her? Acclaimed Canadian poet Don McKay creates a charming tale of geology and deep time and connection in his first children’s book.

Don McKay has published numerous books of poetry, including Birding, or desire (1983), Night Field (1991), Apparatus (1997), Another Gravity (2000), Strike/Slip (2006), The Muskwa Assemblage (2008), and Paradoxides (2012). He won the Griffin Poetry Prize and the Dorothy Livesay Poetry Prize in 2007, two Governor General's Awards for Poetry (in 1991 and 2000), a National Magazine Award in 1991, the Canadian Authors Association Literary Award for Poetry (in 1983 and 2013), and the E.J. Pratt Poetry Award in 2013. His books have also appeared on the shortlists for the Governor General's Award for Non-fiction (in 2002), the Governor General's Award for Poetry (in 1983 and 1997), and the Griffin Poetry Prize (in 2001 and 2005). He was named to the Order of Canada in 2009

McKay is also a respected editor, teacher, and scholar. He has taught at the University of Western Ontario, the University of New Brunswick, the Banff Centre for the Arts, and the Sage Hill Writing Experience. He has served as editor and co-publisher of Brick Books since 1975, and from 1991 to 1996, he edited The Fiddlehead. He presently lives in St. John's, Newfoundland.

Don McKay's profile page

Sally McKay is an artist, curator, art-writer, and educator who works in performance, installation, and digital media. Her current research/work involves an ecologically significant site on McMaster University’s campus, located on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the Credit and Haudenosaunee nations. She has created animations, written art comics, and collaborated on a variety of zines, and brings that spirit and energy to her first work purely for children—a collaboration with her father. She lives in Hamilton, ON.

Sally McKay's profile page

"Sally McKay's illustratons in The Rock Box may turn you into a petrologist. Veteran rock hounds will enjoy the geologicala stories, and it would make a great gift for any potential young rock stars."
— Atlantic Books Today FAll 2023

"The text is engagingly informative and never talks down, while playful imagery occupies the pages with a nicely enhancing sketch-i-ness."
— The Telegram