Review by Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. The reproductive habits of birds, fish, and other creatures are sandwiched in between vignettes relating customs and myths about the egg in this attractive, informative picture book. Gill grabs attention by highlighting the unusual and unbelievable: "A pregnant boy? The female seahorse lays between two hundred and six hundred eggs through a tube into a pouch in the male seahorse's belly. As the baby horses grow, Dad's belly eggspands!" Unfortunately, the plays on egg words (eggstremely, eggscruciating) and the egg jokes ("Hmmmm. . . . Is it better to have egg on your face or eggs on your feet?") are carried a bit too far. Bosson's colorful, highly detailed gouache illustrations, on the other hand, are great, providing a good visual backdrop for the discussion and, where appropriate, some comic relief. The book ends with a look to the future: hope for all species comes from Jazz the "wildcat kitten," the result of implanting the egg of a nearly extinct African wildcat into the womb of an ordinary house cat. A bibliography and Web sites conclude. --Lauren Peterson
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-This book is like having two titles in one. Gill first looks at the mythology and symbolism related to eggs, then segues into their evolutionary past and touches on the various ways that egg-bearers now function and care for their young. While the author presents general information, such as building nests, she also gives specific examples, noting the nesting habits of hummingbirds and cuckoos. The text includes humor with puns, alliteration, and vernacular speech, such as "Most sea creatures lay their eggs and leave, but not the octopus. A supermom, she lays 150,000 eggs, twisting them together in long ropy strands." Clear writing style, brevity of sentence structure, and isolated paragraphs rather than large blocks of text facilitate information gathering for young readers. The figurative paintings fill the pages with inviting images. Several diagrams are included. A further reading list and "some useful web sites" help integrate this title into any elementary curriculum. Emergent readers and any child interested in animals will find something to appreciate here. An enjoyable nontechnical read-aloud.-Tina Hudak, St. Bernard's School, Riverdale, MD (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Fact and fiction combine unsuccessfully in this sophomoric discussion of eggs and the living things that lay them. From insects to humans, comparisons of laying methods and egg production are mixed with abbreviated myths and legends. Accompanied by undistinguished realistic paintings, the text frequently anthropomorphizes and stoops to groovy grunions and eggstraordinary eggs. A list of websites is included. Bib. From HORN BOOK Spring 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
