An Egg is Quiet

Title: An Egg is Quiet

Written by: Dianna Aston
Illustrated by: Sylvia Long
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Copyright date: 2006
Age ranges: 4-10
Lexile level: 670

Summary

An Egg is Quiet introduces children to over 60 different types of eggs through brightly colored and clear illustrations, each illustrated drawing of an egg is labeled with what type of animal or insect it will turn into. Interesting facts about these eggs are also given throughout the book. Towards the end of the book there is a timeline of how the eggs hatch or evolve, the examples of a hen, salmon and grasshopper are given to show the differences between the types of egg processes. This is an explanatory nonfiction book that children are sure to enjoy with a parent, teacher or librarian.

Critique

I really enjoyed the content and organization of this book. The first two full pages include over 60 pictures of eggs, with the name of each animal or insect labeling it. The last two full pages include the hatched or evolved versions of each of those eggs from the first two pages, this gives children a visualization of what the eggs will turn into. The book begins with “An egg is quiet ,” in large cursive letters and the story told in those large cursive letters throughout the book would be a great read aloud for a younger audience of 4-6, the words that are larger lyrical and easily understood by a younger audience. There are some pages that also give more detailed information on the eggs in a smaller font, these words would be able to be better received by an older audience of children ages 6-10. Therefore the larger font can be read and then the smaller font can be read to the older audience so they can better understand the evolutions of eggs. I think this is a unique and interesting feature of this book that makes it stand out as an explanatory nonfiction book. 

Why should it be a part of a collection?
This is one of the most unique nonfiction explanatory books for children that I have read. I love how depending on how much or how little you read of the book, you can read to different age audiences. It is also beautifully illustrated and written and has great reviews. There are also other books by the author that are similar to this book, and I would recommend a library own all of them.

Intended audience:
Children, ages 4-10, who love animals, birds and insects especially, would enjoy this book. They would be able to learn about up 60 different types of eggs, including fun facts, what they look like, and in the back of they will be able to see what the animal/insect looks like as well, once it hatches. This book would be a great read aloud in a classroom or story time. The text makes it so only some of the text needs to be read, for younger audiences or you can read all of the information in the book for children who are a little bit older and able to understand more.

Read alikes:

Other books by Dianna Aston include:

A Beetle is Shy
A Butterfly is Patient
A Nest is Noisy
A Rock is Lively
A Seed is Sleepy

Books with similar topics:

Whose Egg? by: Lynette Evans
Guess What is Growing Inside This Egg by: Mia Posada
Over and Under the Pond By: Kate Messner

All of the books mentioned above would be good recommendations to children who liked this book because the first group is by the same author and the books have a very similar structure/message and the second group are all books recommend to children who are fascinated with more information about eggs and nature.

Website
http://sciencenetlinks.com/lessons/an-egg-is-quiet/ This website provides extra resources, questions to ask your audience, and crafts and activities that would work well with this book.

Extension activity
This would be a great book to read to classes that have baby chicks in their classrooms in order to explain the process of eggs a little further. In a library setting, if there was someone in the community who is willing to show or bring in their chicks and eggs for children at a story time to see, that would be a great tie-in to this book to allow children the chance to see eggs in person. (Images from Amazon)