Egg by Kevin Henkes

Abstract

Reviewed by: Egg by Kevin Henkes Deborah Stevenson, Editor Henkes, Kevin Egg; written and illus. by Kevin Henkes. Greenwillow, 2017 [32p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-06-240873-0 $18.89 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-06-240872-3 $17.99 Reviewed from galleys R 3-5 yrs Four eggs wait to hatch, but their destinies differ. Neatly quadrisected pages show the emerging of little birds from the blue, the pink, and the yellow egg, but the green egg just waits, unhatched. Eventually out pops a little baby alligator (“surprise!”), and the startled birdies fly away. Soon, though, the birds return to cheer the lonely little ’gator and a friendship foursome is formed. We’ve seen the gator-egg mixup before in books, but not for audiences so young, and it’s executed with gentle mirth and an invitingly minimal text. The art is Henkes at his most tidy and restrained; thick brown lines and soft brushy highlighting grounds the Eastery palette, and the precise divisions of the pages (the array expanding to emphasize repetition in some parts of the story) and simple figures would make for an easy translation to flannelboard. There’s some stealthy pushing of the visual narrative envelope for youngsters here, but mostly they’ll just appreciate it as a tale of adorable little birds finding an unexpected sibling. Copyright © 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois