Egg

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

The publisher's characteristically crisp, clean design nicely serves this well-thought-out chronicle of eggs and hatching. Birds (among them the penguin, the familiar street pigeon and the more exotic golden pheasant of China) take up the first part of this book, while the latter sections are devoted to such hatchlings as the corn snake, the Kerry slug and a trio of fish. Each spread boasts a series of color photographs, the first of an egg that is either intact or has its ``pip'' (the first visible sign of the hatching process), the remainder showing, in distinct stages, the infant creature pecking, slithering or swimming its way out of its first home. A final view captures the fledgling in youthful glory at, for example, the age of two days, or presents a full-grown adult specimen. Captions, blocks of text and miniature sidebars convey, with remarkable accessibility, a wealth of information, from the given creature's habitat to the length of its incubation period and nesting patterns. Something to crow over. Ages 5-8. (Mar.)

Children's Literature

All that a person needs to know about eggs and the hatching process is captured in this exquisite photographic story. Such facts as the many different egg colors, shapes and shell thickness are included. The ostrich egg is 100 times larger than a butterfly egg. Who has eggs? Every kind of animal makes eggs. Most animals lay their eggs, but mammals' eggs develop inside the mother's body and are born as babies. Each egg starts as a single cell in its mother's body. After fertilization, the egg cells divide into two egg cells. The photographs take the reader through the entire process of the cell changes. They show the special moment in a baby animal's life as it emerges from the tiny crack in the eggshell to finally burst free. The largest egg in the world is shown hatching. Birds, reptiles, fish and insects hatch from their eggs. Mother Nature has been captured accurately and beautifully through the photographs of these events in a book that will fascinate every child. 2000, Dorling Kindersley,

Children's Literature - Beverly Kobrin

Children far from incubators can watch 15 birds hatch from the 27 assorted eggs in Jane Burton's and Kim Taylor's eye-opening photo-illustrated book. Robert Burton precedes the collaborators' stop-action shots with an introduction to oviparous animals and cutaway drawings of the embryonic development of a hen's egg.

School Library Journal

Gr 2-4-Readers can follow the hatching process of a wide variety of eggs in this eye-catching photographic presentation. Introductory pages define an egg, name groups of animals that lay them, and show diagrams of one developing in a hen. Most examples presented are from the bird family, but amphibians, insects, snakes, and even a slug are represented. Some specific animals may be unfamiliar to the young, but the common theme of similarity in the hatching process will be evident to all. A spacious format contains carefully captioned photographs that demonstrate time differences and techniques required by the emerging young. While somewhat repetitious, this approach does show the similarities of offspring in all egg-laying creatures. Christine Back's Chicken & Egg (Silver Burdett, 1991) and Joanna Cole's A Chick Hatches (Morrow, 1976) offer more comprehensive information. Burton's book is one that children and teachers will reach for to further their understanding of the fascinating emergence of new life.-Diane Nunn, Richard E. Byrd Elementary School, Glen Rock, NJ

Julie Corsaro

Unlike most books on eggs and hatching, this doesn't focus on the chicken, but takes a look at 27 animals, mainly birds, that come from eggs. Beginning with the definition of an egg, a discussion of which creatures hatch from eggs, and a look at the development of a chicken embryo, ornithologist Burton then follows the step-by-step hatching of such distinctive creatures as the black swan, Aylesbury duck, leopard gecko, and kerry slug. While the captioned text is lucid and straightforward, it is the graphics that excel. Excellent, close-up photographs are combined with delicate line-drawings and a crisp layout to make a handsome and accessible design. Like many Dorling Kindersley books, this will be in demand with both report writers and browsers. A brief index, glossary (common names only), and acknowledgments of the British individuals and organizations that provided the wildlife, eggs, and incubators are appended.