Egg

by Kevin Henkes, Kevin Henkes (Illustrator)

Overview

Egg is about four eggs, one big surprise, and an unlikely friendship.

From Caldecott Medalist and New York Times-bestselling author Kevin Henkes, Egg is not only a perfect Easter gift, but also a classic read-alone and read-aloud that will appeal all year long.

This masterful and stylistically original picture book introduces young children to four eggs. One is blue, one is pink, one is yellow, and one is green. Three of the eggs hatch, revealing three baby birds who fly away. But the green egg does not hatch. Why not?

When the three birds return to investigate, they’re in for a big surprise! What will happen next? With a compelling mix of comic-like panels, wordless pages and spreads, and a short text featuring word repetition, surprise, and suspense, Egg is an ideal book for emergent readers, as well as for sharing in a group.

Egg is sure to inspire creativity and storytelling in preschoolers, as they anticipate the page turns and determine their own endings! Kevin Henkes is the bestselling author of Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse, Waiting, and Kitten’s First Full Moon, among many other beloved titles.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062408723
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	01/03/2017
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	528,187
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Kevin Henkes has been praised both as a writer and as an illustrator and is the recipient of the Children’s Literature Legacy Award for his lasting contribution to literature for children. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten’s First Full Moon; Caldecott Honors for Waiting and Owen; two Newbery Honors, one for Olive’s Ocean and one for The Year of Billy Miller; and Geisel Honors for Waiting and Penny and Her Marble. His other books include The World and Everything in It; A House; A Parade of Elephants; Chrysanthemum; and the beloved Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse. Kevin Henkes lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin.

Hometown:

Madison, Wisconsin

Date of Birth:

November 27, 1960

Place of Birth:

Racine, Wisconsin

Education:

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Website:

http://www.kevinhenkes.com

Editorial Reviews

In the hands of someone less generous and wise, Egg might taste like a pack of Easter Peeps with a Cracker Jack surprise and a paper fortune, but Henkes makes it a candy-colored koan, equal parts kaiseki and comic strip. Though its appearance may seem as familiar as the setting sun, this book's full flavor is as toothsome and elusive as tomorrow.

The New York Times Book Review - Rowboat Watkins

★ 10/24/2016
Four eggs: pink, yellow, blue, and green. Three hatch, and out come pink, yellow, and blue chicks who promptly depart. Why isn’t the green egg hatching? The birds return, and after some persistent pecking, an alligator pops out. It isn’t what the birds were expecting, but a friendship quickly blossoms. Henkes’s (Waiting) gentle story isn’t just about appreciating difference—it’s also about the craft of storytelling. Throughout, he divides the action into square panels that offer a visceral sense of how an author wields mood, rhythm, and pacing, as well as sets up a joke: in the opening pages, four-panel sequences showcase each individual, unhatched egg (“egg/ egg/ egg/ egg”), leading to surprises and smiles when things start to happen (“crack/ crack/ crack/ egg”). Thickly outlined in brown, Henkes’s animals exude sweetness and innocence, and a quietly surreal ending, which sees the setting sun morph into an egg and then an orange bird, subtly emphasizes the anything-is-possible potential of storytelling. In many ways, it’s a story with a writer’s workshop folded into it—and it offers terrific encouragement for readers to embark on their own narrative experiments. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

Full-page spreads [depict] surprise, wonder, and newfound companionship. ...Another stunner from Henkes, who is able to evoke so much with few words and such seemingly simple illustrations. Gorgeous and thought-provoking.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Thickly outlined in brown, Henkes’s animals exude sweetness and innocence; and a quietly surreal ending, which sees the setting sun morph into an egg and then an orange bird, subtly emphasizes the anything-is-possible potential of storytelling. ...Terrific encouragement for readers to embark on their own narrative experiments.” — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“Fans...will delight in his use of line, simple forms, and a gentle palette, all of which clearly portray feelings, depict action, and suggest character. The concise text and straightforward illustrations, however, belie a more complicated tale. ...This is a book that readers will want to pore over.” — School Library Journal (starred review)

“Picture-book master Henkes...taps into the deepest emotions of preschoolers with the simplest of stories. …Pacing is, as ever, perfect, taking full advantage of the switch from the early, snappy paneled pages to a series of wordless spreads that tell the story of the budding four-way friendship.” — Horn Book (starred review)

“With characteristic understatement, Henkes explores tenderness, acceptance, friendship, and love in this deceptively simple story. ...Henkes’s illustrations provide depth and a meaningful sense of the passage of time. ..The open-ended conclusion invites readers to continue the story themselves.” — Booklist

“Four eggs wait to hatch, but their destinies differ. ...executed with gentle mirth and invitingly minimal text. ...[youngsters will] appreciate it as a tale of adorable little birds finding an unexpected sibling.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

“Kevin Henkes reprises the delicious milk-chocolate and sugared-pastel color sceme of 2015’s Waiting in Egg. Part preschool comedy routine, part word primer…children will learn the words ‘alone,’ ‘said’ and ‘lonely’ before the tale takes a conciliatory turn with the making of ‘friends.’” — Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher

With characteristic understatement, Henkes explores tenderness, acceptance, friendship, and love in this deceptively simple story. ...Henkes’s illustrations provide depth and a meaningful sense of the passage of time. ..The open-ended conclusion invites readers to continue the story themselves.

Booklist

Kevin Henkes reprises the delicious milk-chocolate and sugared-pastel color sceme of 2015’s Waiting in Egg. Part preschool comedy routine, part word primer…children will learn the words ‘alone,’ ‘said’ and ‘lonely’ before the tale takes a conciliatory turn with the making of ‘friends.’

Wall Street Journal

Four eggs wait to hatch, but their destinies differ. ...executed with gentle mirth and invitingly minimal text. ...[youngsters will] appreciate it as a tale of adorable little birds finding an unexpected sibling.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

With characteristic understatement, Henkes explores tenderness, acceptance, friendship, and love in this deceptively simple story. ...Henkes’s illustrations provide depth and a meaningful sense of the passage of time. ..The open-ended conclusion invites readers to continue the story themselves.

Booklist

Kevin Henkes reprises the delicious milk-chocolate and sugared-pastel color sceme of 2015’s Waiting in Egg. Part preschool comedy routine, part word primer…children will learn the words ‘alone,’ ‘said’ and ‘lonely’ before the tale takes a conciliatory turn with the making of ‘friends.’

Wall Street Journal

Four eggs wait to hatch, but their destinies differ. ...executed with gentle mirth and invitingly minimal text. ...[youngsters will] appreciate it as a tale of adorable little birds finding an unexpected sibling.

Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

★ 12/01/2016
PreS-Gr 1—Four eggs: pink, yellow, blue, and green. Three eggs crack: pink; yellow, blue, but not green. Three surprises: a pink chick, a yellow chick, and a blue chick hatch. Three fly away: pink, yellow, blue chicks; green egg stays put, waiting and waiting and waiting. Three friends return to listen to the green egg. They peck (and peck peck peck and peck some more) until the crack reveals a surprise: a green crocodile. Frightened fledglings fly away, leaving the small green reptile "alone," "sad," "lonely," and "miserable." That is, until the birds return and they all become "friends," and together the four go off into the sun to start a new egg-venture. Geometric patterns repeat, multiply, retreat, reappear. Each cream-colored page is framed with a brown border. Thinner lines sometimes create smaller frames within the larger ones, suggesting the passage of time, movement, and changing emotions. In the final sequence, the sun toward which the birds and croc are heading morphs into another egg: "The end…maybe." Fans of Henkes will delight in his use of line, simple forms, and a gentle palette, all of which clearly portray feelings, depict action, and suggest character. The concise text and straightforward illustrations, however, belie a more complicated tale. Is it simply a story of waiting—perhaps one of friendship? Or does it suggest the cyclical nature of young choosing their actions and flying out into the world? VERDICT This is a book that readers will want to pore over and talk about and read again and again.—Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

School Library Journal

★ 2016-09-19
In Henkes latest book, the illustrator returns to one of his favorite recent themeswaiting. Four eggs. Three crack and then hatch, and the chicks wait for the fourth, sometimes helping with a peck-peck-peck. When it does hatch, what a surprise! The chicks are so surprised they scatter and leave the new, crocodilian addition to their flock alone to become sad, lonely, and miserable. But in an act of burgeoning friendship, they return, line up on its back, and float off to enjoy the water and sun. As in Henkes Caldecott- and Geisel Honorwinning Waiting (2015), the theme is waiting, beautifully rendered in brown ink and watercolor paint. In Waiting, he used white space to great effect to give the figurines space as their attention was directed outward, to the moon, the stars, the wind. Here, pages are framed, and some are divided into four or 16 squares, which then open to full-page spreads depicting surprise, wonder, and newfound companionship. The frames and boxes complement the idea of containment in eggs, especially of the something enclosed in that fourth egg. When the four friends float off into the sunset, the sun itself morphs into an egg shape, with a hint of a new surprise in their lives. Another stunner from Henkes, who is able to evoke so much with few words and such seemingly simple illustrations. Gorgeous and thought-provoking. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews

Picture-book master Henkes...taps into the deepest emotions of preschoolers with the simplest of stories. …Pacing is, as ever, perfect, taking full advantage of the switch from the early, snappy paneled pages to a series of wordless spreads that tell the story of the budding four-way friendship.

Horn Book (starred review)