Monday, March 21, 2011

The Odd Egg

Could it be that Spring is here? With the warmer weather over the weekend, it seems like it may really have arrived! Emmy enjoyed wearing a sweater rather than a bulky coat and getting her scooter out and riding around town. We've spotted some buds on a few trees and some sprouts from the bulbs we planted last Autumn!

With Spring, Emmy is most excited about seeing baby animals. She listens carefully for the chirp-chirp of birds and wonders if there is a nest with babies nearby.

On our last trip to the library, we looked for a book about baby birds and came across the book The Odd Egg by Emily Gravett. Quite amusing! The story stars Duck - the only bird who hasn't laid an egg. Not uncommon considering he is a male duck! But Duck finds an egg with spots the same color as the feathers on his head. "He thought it was the most beautiful egg in the whole wide world" and decides to take care of it himself. The other birds were not impressed by Duck's egg. They thought it was quite odd. As the eggs begin to hatch, the birds cuddle their new babies while Duck passes the time waiting for his egg to hatch by knitting a scarf. Everyone is in for a BIG surprise when Duck's egg finally hatches.

Emily Gravett's simple text is paired with delightful pencil and watercolor drawings. With each "Creak Crack," the eggs hatch in ascending order on specially cut flaplike pages showing each baby greeting its mother. The suspense builds for Duck's egg to hatch until "SNAP!" Emmy's favorite page is on the inside of the back cover where the inhabitant of the egg marches off with it's "Mama" wearing the knitted scarf as well as booties that look like webbed feet!

Emmy and I are now fans of Emily Gravett!!!! She has written and illustrated some brilliant books. Here's a few of our favorites:

4 comments:

  1. Monkey and me was a huge hit for a long time in our home. So was Blue Chameleon - great for the youngest of kids!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks, Zoe! We will check Blue Chameleon out of the library this week.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm hoping to post about our favorite egg books sometime soon. Love the element of suprise in The Odd Egg.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hi Janelle - Emmy and I can't wait to read your list of egg books! Thanks for reading and commenting.

    ReplyDelete