SEARCHING FOR WOCKS

The preciousness of every “wock” lies in the eye of the beholder.

A small, gap-toothed child sets forth on a journey (one, it becomes clear, that this youngster has taken before). “I am an expert at wock finding,” says the protagonist. The child is accompanied by a faceless adult who follows behind patiently, picking up dropped mittens and, later, babysitting the collection of wocks. Though wock appears to be a mispronunciation of rock, other small, pocketable items—twigs, bottlecaps—catch the child’s eye, too. Much of the book’s appeal lies in the single-minded intensity of the protagonist’s passion. Kids needn’t be wock fans to recognize the joy in finding treasures in the everyday (particularly when some objects are described as “powerful”). The story is told entirely in the child’s first-person voice; Knisley bedecks both youngster and caregiver in vibrant shades of yellow, red, and green, all rendered in gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil. Endpapers show the various objects in the collection, including everything from striated stones to cicada husks. Consider pairing alongside the fellow collecting title A Pocket Full of Rocks by Kristin Mahoney (2025). Both child and caregiver are pale-skinned.

A subtle charmer, wock, stock, and barrel.