Stalactite & Stalagmite

Starred review from November 25, 2024
Beckmeyer (The First Week of School) views the history of life on Earth from within a cave, via a conversation between a stalactite and stalagmite whose slow, unceasing DRIP DRIP DRIP continues in contrast to planetary change occurring outside. Occasionally, someone wanders by. “A thing is moving down there,”
Stalactite observes. “I am not a thing.
I am a trilobite,” replies an orange, many-segmented creature. Loosely drawn and collaged multimedia spreads carry a
light-hearted goofiness that chimes
with the characters’ offhand view of earth-shattering—and life-ending—events. After a visiting triceratops peers outside just in time to witness a cataclysm (“LOOK AT THOSE DAZZLING LIGHTS”), the meteors that wipe out most of the planet’s life evoke a retrospective sigh: “Remember how pretty they were?” And the speleothems wrestle with their own paradox as they anticipate merging into a single column (“Maybe becoming the us is where our story really starts”), while the planet outside hurtles into a futuristic landscape. The premise of a bond that lasts eras and epochs poses all kinds of possibilities, here pursued with wit, curiosity, and sparky energy. Human characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Contextualizing back matter concludes. Ages 4–8. Agent: Stephanie Fretwell-Hill, Red Fox Literary.

Starred review from March 15, 2025
Two rock formations build a friendship over time. When drips of water enter a cave, they pick up minerals, creating two "nubs" that become a stalactite and a stalagmite. Spanning millions of years, their tale unfolds as a jaunty conversation between the two anthropomorphic characters, who witness major changes to the world. A trilobite comes and goes. Meteors end dinosaur life. The humor turns a bit dark at times. "Remember the giant ground sloth who loved to lick us?" the protagonists ask while an accompanying illustration shows the creature's bones now resting in the cave. But there's an underlying sweetness--and a true sense of wonder at the marvels that have occurred over the eons. As a brown-skinned human creates a cave painting, the nubs consider what they would draw if they could: "A picture of the whole infinite universe...Everyone who saw it would...find comfort finally knowing their place in its endless giganticness." The nubs have expressive faces, and the mixed-media artwork lends a comic quality to the wonderfully tactile, collagelike spreads. A refrain of "drip, drip, drip" adds a visual and literary rhythm as the two friends literally grow closer, eventually forming a rock column. Beckmeyer has a gift for conveying heady doses of science with whimsy and humor; his wildly original tale is a poignant friendship tale, a master class in storytelling, and probing philosophy perfectly pitched to a young audience. Both gloriously expansive and goofy--in short, everything young readers could ask for. (more information about the creatures in the story)(Informational picture book. 4-8)

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