Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In this witty and wise book "two eggs," served in diverse ways, become a metaphor for how much individuals have in common, no matter what their tastes. Late one night in a diner, a slender orange fox awaits her customers. In the opening wordless spread, readers observe the first customer arriving in his yellow taxi. In the next, the rhino cabbie orders ("Two eggs please. Sunny-side up"), followed by a rat musician carrying a double bass and sporting a tux ("Two eggs, please. Over easy"). The long counter fills up: a stork in green scrubs prefers "Scrambled," and a green alligator with a pierced nose and his pet boa constrictor orders for both-"Poached. My friend here would like a couple of raw ones." Although the customers do not chat, they steal glances at each other. Thought bubbles reveal their shared observation: "Different." This motif repeats as the ursine chef holds up a white and a brown egg in one paw ("Different"), then cracks them into a dish ("The same"). When the waitress calls, "Two eggs coming up!", she addresses everyone in the place. Yet in the closing spread, the customers eat their two eggs in peace, side by side. Readers must reach their own understanding. Weeks (Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash) uses repetitive but not monotonous language; Lewin works in the loose lines of her Click, Clack, Moo and reinforces the main point in expressive watercolors. Even the typefaces, which change with each customer, call attention to the coexistence of individuality and community. At this city diner, readers of all persuasions get food for thought. Ages 3-6. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-Weeks and Lewin do a superb job of exploring the concept of things being different and the same. The setting is a busy diner at breakfast time, where personified animals request two eggs prepared in different manners. The customers include a rhino, a mouse, a pelican, two canine cops, a gorilla and her baby, a ram, and a crocodile with a snake. Each one is rendered in the artist's distinctive and amusing watercolor cartoons, created with an economy of line and an abundance of personality. The "foxy" waitress and a big bear of a cook round out the charming and identifiable cast. A thoroughly delightful treat for both early readers and young listeners.-Donna Marie Wagner, Exeter Community Library, Reading, PA (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
(Preschool) Weeks and Lewin serve up a favorite preschool concept: similarities and differences. An all-night diner attracts a wide variety of customers in the middle of the night, including a rhino cab driver, two wolf police officers, and a crocodile street performer and his snake. One by one, they take stools at the counter and order the same thing, ""Two eggs, please,"" but each order is different: soft-boiled, hard-boiled, poached, raw (for the snake). The premise is as basic as fried eggs, and handled with a light touch, but Lewin's inviting watercolor and ink illustrations add flavor and expand the story to involve young listeners and readers. Carrying much of the story, the art shows the next customer partially visible outside the window before he or she comes inside; after every new order, the word different appears in a thought balloon above the diners' heads. There's lots to discuss: Is the rhino cab driver (sunny-side up) thinking about a rat musician's order (two eggs over easy), or making an observation about the mini-musician and his large bass violin? (The humor of the doctor--a stork--seated next to a sleep-deprived mother gorilla and her colicky baby will probably be missed by a younger audience but may amuse adults.) Back in the kitchen, the cook demonstrates the concept with a brown egg and a white egg: ""different."" Crack them open, however, and inside they are ""the same."" And in the end, that's what comes across as loud and clear as the fox waitress shouting orders to the cook: we are all different...but we are also the same. Now, how do you like your eggs? (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A clever, minimally verbal introduction to "same, but different" that takes too long to make its point. Each animal customer that walks into Lewin's brightly lit, exuberantly drawn diner orders two eggs, but each wants them done a different way: sunny side up, over easy, scrambled, even (for an alligator's pet boa) raw. But the customers enter one at a time, most taking up a whole spread to do so, and the pace is further slowed by spreads in which all sit there sharing the same thought: "Different." Finally the counter attendant shouts out all the orders in sequence--in plain language rather than restaurant jargon, which may disappoint readers hoping for another Frank and Ernest (1988)--then delivers them, cooked (or not) to order, demonstrating "Different . . . but the same." It's a difficult, abstract concept that has engaged every philosopher since Plato's day; children may be able to get a handle on it here, but they'll need both a large fund of patience, and an adult to fill in the gaps. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
