eggs

Review: What Will Hatch? by Jennifer Ward

| Tasha

what will hatch

What Will Hatch? by Jennifer Ward, illustrated by Susie Ghahremani

This simple little book builds tension through the use of a guessing game and the wonder of waiting for an egg to hatch.  On one page, the habitat and a little description of the eggs are given, with the question of “What will hatch?”  Take a guess, turn the page and find out the answer.  There are lots of surprises along the way.  The clever use of die cuts in the pages that peek through in egg-shaped holes adds to the fun.

Eight different animals are shown here with basic information.  Nicely, there is more information at the end on each of the animals as well as information on chicken egg development.  Ward’s text is particularly simple, just a few phrases with a skip of repetition.  It is the illustrations here that really make the book.  Done in gouache on wood, the images have a lovely texture to them that combines beautifully with the swirling nature of the art.  The texture also reinforces the natural subject matter in a subtle way.

A great pick for toddlers, this book  will keep them guessing as the pages turn.  Expect to have to share it again and again.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Book Review–Oliver by Christopher Franceschelli

| Tasha

oliver

Oliver by Christopher Franceschelli

This minimalist board book has an interesting novelty piece at the end.  On most of the pages there are only an egg and one line of text.  The text explains the limitations of being an egg.  An egg can roll from side to side, even stand on its head, but still it is just an egg.  Until something happens.

In this book, the final moment where the egg becomes something else is told through a non-removable ribbon that runs through two pages.  Turn the page and the egg is transformed into a chick.  The process of turning that page is fascinating and will have children turning the page back and forth from egg to chick to egg.

The book has a sturdy feel that would make it a novelty book that could survive a public or school library.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Lemniscaat.

The Easter Egg

| Tasha

The Easter Egg by Jan Brett

Jan Brett turns her prodigious talents to an Easter story!

Hoppi the rabbit is now old enough to participate in the egg decorating competition.  Each year the rabbits decorate Easter eggs and the winning bunny got to help the Easter Rabbit hide the eggs.  But Hoppi needs a great idea for his egg, so he hops around to visit the other rabbits.  Each bunny is doing something unique and interesting and inspires Hoppi to try their technique.  As he visits, each rabbit offers him a scrap of material or a tool as well as ideas.  Hoppi tries to come up with the perfect idea, but is distracted by the distressed calls of some robins.  One of Mother Robin’s eggs fell out of the nest on onto the forest floor.  Hoppi knew just what he had to do and sat gently down on the egg with his warm fur.  Hoppi sat and sat and sat on the egg, unable to create an egg of his own for the Easter Rabbit.  But the Easter Rabbit knows just what makes the perfect egg for Easter!

Done in her signature style with one main image on a two-page spread and two smaller images on each side, this book celebrates Easter, spring, art and creativity.  It is also about self-sacrifice and giving to the community.  Brett has created a book that never becomes overly sweet.  A large part of this is her attention to minute details that make the rabbits realistic, the forest come alive, and the individual eggs masterpieces.  I also appreciate her use of wild plants and flowers as the framing for the illustrations.  Brett’s use of repetition as Hoppi travels the village of rabbits allows for a real surprise when Hoppi discovers Mother Robin and the egg. 

This book will work well with a group, though the tiny details are worth lingering over and discussing within a family or very small group of children.  Appropriate for ages 3-7.

Reviewed from copy received from Penguin.

Egg Drop

| Tasha

Egg Drop by Mini Grey

Grey returns with another fantastical tale about an inanimate object. This time it is an egg.  An egg who would not wait.  An egg who would not listen.  The Egg wanted to fly – like a bird, like a helicopter, like a round brown blimp.  But it did not understand aerodynamics, so it headed up a tower to soar.  At first the egg thought it was flying.  But it was falling instead.  Don’t despair, it did not go to waste.

Grey is wonderfully quirky in all of her picture books.  Mixing in Bernoulli’s principle and aerodynamics just adds to that strange surrealism in her picture books that make them both very different and very intriguing.  Her illustrations are mix graph paper with flying eggs, what’s not to love!  With this book, Grey has once again expanded what picture books can be about and what they can say. 

A strange and interesting picture book that does not nicely fit into units or story times, but is wonderful nonetheless.  Share this one with any quirky kids you know.  Appropriate for ages 4-6.