The Trial of the Stone is a humorous folk tale in which a stone is accused of a crime and the villagers at the trial must learn to take the judicial system seriously.

A young boy named Matt is off to visit his grandfather in a faraway village. He has been on the road all day, and when dusk falls, Matt finds a place to sleep near a big rock. He hides the few pennies he has for the next day's breakfast safely under a stone. A scoundrel in a red shirt watches Matt settle in and sees him hide his money. When the boy is fast asleep, the man tiptoes over, steals the few pennies and runs away.

In the morning, the boy wakes to find his breakfast money gone. He looks everywhere - but no pennies. In his distress, he raises such a ruckus that the people from a nearby village come running. The constable takes charge and inquires what is wrong. Matt tells his sad story. The village chief then orders the constable to carry the stone to the village to stand trial for theft. The villagers trail along to see what will happen

In the trial, the stone is accused of stealing Matt's money. The rock remains silent, but the crowd giggles. They are warned to keep quiet, as this is a serious matter. The rock refuses to answer any further questions and is finally charged with contempt of court. This causes the crowd to laugh out loud. As their laughter continues and they further annoy the court, they all end up being charged one penny for the disturbance. The chief awards the pennies to the boy. And it is the man in the red shirt who is ordered to carry the disobedient rock back where it belongs. With his new money, Matt buys his breakfast and goes happily on his way.

The Trial of the Stone is based on an old folk tale that appears in various forms throughout Africa, Asia and South America.

There are 32 pages in this book. This is a picture book. A picture book uses pictures and text to tell the story. The number of words varies from zero ('wordless') to around 1k over 32 pages. Picture books are typically aimed at young readers (age 3-6) but can also be aimed at older children (7+). This book was published 2001 by Annick Press Ltd .

St phane Jorisch's work has won many awards, including three Governor General's Awards for Illustration. He lives in Montreal, Quebec. Richardo Keens-Douglas is an actor, broadcaster, and writer of plays, songs, and children's stories. His musical adaptation of "The Nutmeg Princess" won the 1999 Dora Mavor Moore award for outstanding new musical. He divides his time between Toronto and Grenada.