Book Nook: Ricky, the Rock That Couldn't Roll

Mr. Jay wrote the book Ricky, the Rock That Couldn't Roll to show the importance of friendship and the power of perseverance and offer hope to parents/children with a disability like his own daughter.
From zippy little pebbles to big strong boulders, the rock friends get together to play and roll around their favorite hill, only to find that one of their friends, Ricky, can't roll with them. Unlike all of the other rocks, who are all round, Ricky can't roll because he's flat on one side. Determined not to leave their friend behind, the rocks set out to help Ricky roll - one way or another. This sweet, imaginative picture book, written in verse, brings a fresh set of characters to life in a story that highlights perseverance and triumph in the face of adversity, and the power of true friendship.

I had a chance to interview him to learn more.

Why did you write this book?
At the time that ‘I wrote it, my daughter, Bria, was about 4 years old (she’s 10 now)/. Bria has cerebral palsy, and although she can’t walk or talk, she’s far more developmentally advanced than doctors expected her to be. I’ve always believed that a big part of that was the fact that I read to her regularly, and books have been an important part of our routine.

Although I read her just about any book you could find on the shelves of a standard book store, I began researching books that were on the market for and about kids with disabilities. I ended up being at best disappointed, at worst angry. Practically all of them presented protagonists as having a wonderful life, but only in their imagination. I found that to be very depressing, and something I never wanted for my daughter - I’ve always been determined to make sure she has a great life in real life, not just in her imagination.

At the same time, I also realized that the authors of many of these books weren’t really professional authors, but rather parents of children with disabilities who were using writing to deal with their emotions.

So I decided to write my own story that reflected both my daughter’s challenges, but with a positive, hopeful message. I also wanted to make sure the book was relatable to a wider audience.

To do this, I created a story that acted more as a metaphor: a group of rock friends all roll around their favorite hill. But one of the rocks, Ricky, can’t roll because he’s flat on one side. The rocks come together to help Ricky. After a number of failed attempts, they finally come up with a way that allows Ricky to roll around like the rest of them.

Because there is no mention of any disability, and I don’t show any apparatus in the book, most readers simply enjoy a fun story about friendship, perseverance and teamwork. But for families of kids with disabilities, they see a hopeful message: that although there may be hurdles along the way, our kids and their development are worth fighting for.

Why is it important for kids to read stories that have characters that are different from others?
Children are increasingly exposed to people from different backgrounds, different walks of life, and different capabilities. It can be difficult to children to understand that even though we are all different in our ways, it’s important to treat everyone with kindness, and to respect each other. Every day we see the devastating results when kids bully each other, so we need to share messages of inclusion and acceptance as early as possible.

How can books help kids learn character traits like perseverance and being kind?
Sadly, adults don’t always know how to treat each other properly, and don’t always provide the best examples for kids to follow. Books can help kids understand complicated topics that they don’t always get to witness in their everyday live, by breaking them into simple stories. The best books do this without the kids even realizing that they are leaning any lessons at all. Like "hiding the peas in the mashed potatoes” to get kids to eat them, a good story will have kids so engaged in the plot and the characters, the writing and the illustrations, that they don’t even realize that by the end of it they’ve actually learned something.

Mr. Jay (Jay Miletsky) spent years writing general business books that were boring to write, and probably even more boring to read. Eventually he found his way to the far more exciting world of children's picture books, releasing the best-selling, modern day classic, Ricky, the Rock that Couldn't Roll in 2017. He has since authored nine children's picture books, including The Bear and the Fern, Patrick Picklebottom and the Penny Book and Tyrannosauruis Hex and the Unluckiest Day Ever. Jay lives in New Jersey with his wife, Amanda, and his two kids, Bria Paige and Oakland Jack.