• Age: 0 to 9
• Grade: p to 4
• Reading age: 4 to 9

In this innovative graphic fable, Old Beaver climbs to the top of a hill and admires the dams, ponds and lodges down below. He has built many of them over the years. Across the valley is the huge red rock that has always seemed like his friend. But in the city, far from this peaceful scene, developers are planning to use the valley for their own purposes. To them, it is the perfect spot for a luxury hotel.When bulldozers and steam shovels arrive in the valley, some of the animals lose their homes, some flee to safety, others perish. And Old Beaver, who tries to organize a fight to protect their world, seems destined to lose. But then in a mysterious dream, he and the red rock become a magical duo. In the dream sequence, The Red Rock breaks into a full-fledged wordless comic. The message is clear — we need to fight to protect our beautiful world, and we need help from our friends to do so.

Tomio Nitto is an award-winning graphic artist whose illustrations have appeared in many publications including Esquire, The Financial Post Magazine, Saturday Night, Toronto Life and the Washington Post Magazine. His work was also used in the movies The Fly and M. Butterfly. He moved to Canada from Japan in 1971 because he fell in love with Canada's natural world. He doesn't want to lose it.

Tomio Nitto's profile page

...a humorous story...

Library Media Connection

A picture book that begins in the time-honoured way...morphs into a graphic story, and a wordless one at that. This new black and white medium is wonderfully suited to a tale of derring-do.

Globe and Mail

...children will...enjoy listening to the text, and may especially enjoy the comic book section, which allows them to provide their own narration.

Booklist

Tomio Nitto's The Red Rock is a powerful and deeply moving environmental fable told in a friendly cartoon-like style that's inspired by anime.

Quill & Quire