Two charming anthropomorphic nubs of cave rock take center stage in Drew Beckmeyer’s Stalactite & Stalagmite: A Big Tale from a Little Cave, a superbly funny and profound introduction to the history of the world thus far.
Beckmeyer is an elementary school teacher known for imaginative books like The First Week of School, and Stalactite & Stalagmite does not disappoint. His titular mineral formations are a pointy practical-minded fellow who hangs from the ceiling and a squat little dreamer-philosopher who rises from the cave floor. Together, the duo have amusing chats, host a variety of animal visitors and bear witness to millions of years of earthly transformation as viewed through their picture-window-esque cave entrance.
And oh, the changes they see! Inside the cave, an Ichthyostega (“kind of like a fish mixed with a frog”) with appealingly buggy eyes and bright green skin wraps the stalagmite in a friendly hug. It heralds the arrival of new creatures, too, being “one of the first animals that could walk on land and swim in the water.” Outside, the Cretaceous Extinction meteor shower creates a breathtaking backdrop for a poignant portrait of a red-dotted triceratops mesmerized by “dazzling lights flying across the sky.”
As the epochs and eras roll along, the dripping of the mineral-infused water that formed the nubs remains as steady and enduring as their friendship. Whether shooing away a bat that rudely hangs from the stalactite’s tip or asking each other, “If you had arms, what would you draw?” the chatty duo’s conversations punctuate the inexorable passage of time with humor and sweetness.
There is trepidation as the day they merge into a stalagnate (also known as a column) looms large. “I don’t know what I will be when we are us and I am not me anymore,” the stalagmite says. “Maybe becoming the us is where our story really starts,” the stalactite posits. It’s an affecting, thought-provoking exchange in a book filled with opportunities for readers to ponder the wonder and beauty of our world—and the loveliness of having a trusted companion through it all.
