Join us for a fun afternoon learning all about beach rocks and painting your very own beach rock creature with children’s book author J. Roach-Evans.

Beach Rocks is about common rocks and pebbles found along the Northeast Coast of the United States. It covers their shapes, sizes, and the pebbles people most enjoy collecting. From Maine’s “wishing stones” to New Jersey’s Cape May “diamonds,” this beginner’s guide explores the beautiful beach pebbles of the coast. The back pages include a helpful guide for identifying the pebbles you are most likely to find. It covers common minerals such as quartz, epidote, and feldspar, as well as rocks including basalt, rhyolite, granite, jasper, puddingstone, gneiss, schist, slate, and quartzite.

Joanne Roach-Evans is a local author and illustrator of six children’s beginner guidebooks about seashore life.

She grew up in Auburn, Massachusetts, and studied art, English, and graphic design at the School of the Worcester Art Museum, Worcester State University, and Quinsigamond Community College. She also earned a master’s degree in education from Worcester State University.

Her first children’s book, Seashells: Treasures from the Northeast Coast, was published in 2013 by Islandport Press. She later published Seaweed: Marine Algae from the Northeast Coast in 2019, Marine Animals from the Northeast Coast in 2020, Marine Birds from the Northeast Coast in 2021, Little Piping Plover in 2022, and Wildflowers from the Northeast Coast in 2024. Beach Rocks: Treasures from the Northeast Coast is her latest book.