The Big Rock begins:
"One day in early spring, the last bit of snow melted from the top of the big rock. The water ran slowly across the rough surface, and then trickled down the cracks in the rock's steep sides.
It had been a hard winter. The trees nearby had lost many limbs in the heavy snow, but the big rock was almost unchanged. It was much, much older than the forest, and one more winter had little effect on it."

The real big rock is right in my woods, and I often sit on this billion year old piece of stone and watch the forest. I find it very calming. This is the first book in the Big series. The series is named that way because we all call this the Big rock. The book was well reviewed and received some special honors as well.

The John Burroughs Association Children's Book Award List 1988 Outstanding Science Trade Book of 1988 The Children's Book Council

When I began working on this book, my knowledge of geology was limited, and so I spent hours and hours reading college textbooks, learning all the basics, so I could write from a well informed background. In addition I consulted with experts on Adirondack geology, learning even more. Before I began the illustrations, I traveled to the Yukon Territory stopping at Jasper and Banff National Parks, also in Canada. At these places I could see, photograph, and sketch huge glaciers in action. The action is pretty slow, of course, but the power is evident. It was a mighty continental glacier, during the last ice age, that moved the big rock into what is now my woods.
One of the special things about working on this book, is that I could visit my subject anytime I wanted. I made almost daily trips to the big rock when I was doing the illustrations, and drew many sketches on the spot. One summer day I was sketching when a scarlet tanager flew into the tree right above the rock. That is why I put that beautiful bird in the last big illustration in the book.

The big rock is doing just fine these days. The trees around it are mostly hemlock and the ground is always wet there. This means that every year when the wind storms come, a tree near the rock is blown over, but the big rock just goes on and on. I clean the pine needles off it every once in a while. I know that is kind of silly, but it is my way of caring for this ancient piece of stone.