Egg

Description

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.

Kevin Henkes is the author and illustrator of more than fifty critically acclaimed and award-winning picture books, beginning readers, and novels. He received the Caldecott Medal for Kitten's First Full Moon in 2005, and Waiting won a Caldecott Honor and Geisel Honor in 2016. Kevin Henkes is also the creator of a number of picture books featuring his mouse characters, including the #1 New York Times bestsellers Lilly's Big Day and Wemberly Worried, the Caldecott Honor Book Owen, and the beloved Lilly's Purple Plastic Purse. His most recent mouse character, Penny, was introduced in Penny and Her Song; her story continued in Penny and Her Doll and Penny and Her Marble (a Geisel Honor Book). Bruce Handy, in a New York Times Book Review piece about A Good Day, wrote, "It should be said: Kevin Henkes is a genius." Kevin Henkes received two Newbery Honors for novels-one for The Year of Billy Miller, and the other for Olive's Ocean. Also among his fiction for older readers are the novels Junonia, Bird Lake Moon, The Birthday Room, and Sun & Spoon. Kevin Henkes has been published by Greenwillow Books since the release of his first book, All Alone, in 1981. His fiftieth book, the picture book Egg, was published in January 2017. Most recently, he is the author of In the Middle of Fall, Winter Is Here, Summer Song, A Parade of Elephants, Sweeping Up the Heart, and Penny and Her Sled. He lives with his family in Madison, Wisconsin. www.kevinhenkes.com.

"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 reads will want to pour 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' 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