Jayden Noticed

"This picture book is a gem!" —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

With the help of a rock he’s collected, a child moving to a new house learns to embrace change and make a like-minded friend in this story celebrating our most thoughtful little observers.

Jayden notices everything. He notices the way the moon looks different every night as it peeks through the oak tree. He notices spiderweb wheels and egg freckles, mouse paws and rose petals. But most of all, Jayden notices rocks. Jayden collects a rock to go with everything: a homework rock, a Saturday rock, even enough wishing rocks to fill up a jar. But now that he and his family have moved to a different house, where the trees are too short, the color is off, and the mailbox is in the wrong place, will he find a rock to grant him courage—and help him make a new friend, maybe even a noticer like him? In a tender story for curious and observant little readers, Carolyn Crimi’s text joins with Shamar Knight-Justice’s expressive illustrations in a tale that offers comfort in the face of life’s many changes.