"A young boy named Sam has a bad day, but it becomes brighter when he finds a rock at school with a message painted on it, 'It's okay!' Sam decides to paint another rock with the words 'Someone cares,' and he leaves it at school near the playground. Then, Maeve has a bad day. Walking near the playground, she finds the rock Sam painted, which cheers her up. Maeve paints another rock and places it on the track field for someone else to discover. The story shows how this pattern continues with different children finding the stones and leaving their own until one child named Jasper presents an idea to his class. Jasper tells his class about the painted rocks and encourages everyone to make one to leave for someone. Together, the class paints rocks and creates a garden of 'kindness rocks' at school to put a smile on someone's face when needed. Murphy's story depicts how one small act of kindness can alter a person's day. The book encourages children to find ways to be kind, no matter how little, because one never knows how it might impact someone else. This story should be in every elementary school classroom and creates a fantastic project opportunity for educators to do with students." -- Children's Literature
