Stories for Growing
Cover of Stick and StoneAges 3 to 7
Kindness

Stick and Stone

Beth Ferry, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld

Ages 3 to 7
About this age guidance

Kirkus: 3–7; Publishers Weekly: 4–8

The age tag follows Kirkus review. Other sources may suggest different ages. This is audience guidance, not an independent reading level.

Listed among 15 children’s books about friendship. The page says a friendship begins when Stick rescues Stone from a bully pinecone, with rhymes and puns.

Two lonely objects, a stick and a stone, meet at a playground. A pinecone teases Stone, and Stick speaks up for him. They become inseparable and explore together. When a storm blows Stick away, Stone sets out to find him and brings him home. The text is short rhyme with visual puns.

Good forBullyingMaking friends

Recommended by PBS KIDS for Parents

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What children see in the story

Stick speaks up when a pinecone picks on Stone, and later Stone goes out to search for Stick after the storm. Each looks out for the other.

Why it’s on these shelves

Kindness
Stone is teased by a pinecone at the playground, and Stick speaks up and sends it away. Later, when a storm blows Stick off, Stone sets out with a headlamp to search for him and brings him back.

Why pick it up?

The friends are reunited and are together again.

A note for parents

PW says the author makes the moral “unmissable”; Kirkus calls the approach light and does not mention teaching. Judged story-led: the plot is a rescue, a friendship and a search, told in rhyme. Only moments in Kirkus and PW were used. The PBS list is a short blurb.

Where this recommendation comes from

PBS KIDS for Parents

Listed among 15 children’s books about friendship. The page says a friendship begins when Stick rescues Stone from a bully pinecone, with rhymes and puns.

Read PBS KIDS’s recommendation
Sources and review status

We have checked source descriptions and drafted the value mapping. We have not personally reviewed the full book. The value labels, situation assignments, and parent notes remain provisional.

Publisher or literacy resource · Original recommendation

Our explanation of the value fit is separate from the original reviewer’s judgment. Their inclusion here does not imply an endorsement of Stories for Growing.

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