The Egg Tree [Paperback]

Katherine Milhous (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

One Easter morning, Katy and Carl went on an egg hunt through Grandmom's house. Katy couldn't find anything until she went up to the attic. And there she discovered a very special set of eggs...

Grandmom had painted them when she was a little girl. And now, she hung them from the branches of a tiny tree -- an Egg Tree! So began a very special Easter tradition.

This Caldecott Medal-winning story of a Pennsylvania Dutch Easter will surely inspire children to make Egg Trees of their very own.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

When Katy discovers her grandmother's old hand-painted Easter eggs in the attic, she inspires the renewal of a special tradition: the Easter egg tree! This quaint Caldecott Medal-winning story, written half a century ago, will charm today's readers every bit as much as it did their parents and grandparents. Influenced by Pennsylvania Dutch folk art and tradition, Katherine Milhous creates a lovely tale that will leave readers of all ages impatient to break out paint, dye, and brushes to trim their own Easter egg tree. Muted hues of blue, brown, green, orange, and yellow are a welcome respite from the in-your-face vibrancy of contemporary illustrations, and create their own gentle radiance. Age-old designs such as the Bright and Morning Star, the Horn-blowing Rooster, the Cooing Dove, and the Pomegranate decorate the borders and eggs, providing a sense of deep-rooted history and tradition. A beautiful sleeper of a classic. (Ages 5 and older) --Emilie Coulter

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Aladdin (February 28, 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689715684
• ISBN-13: 978-0689715686
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.7 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #578,994 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A lovely Easter story, September 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Egg Tree (Paperback)

The Egg Tree is a great story about a little girl's Easter morning egg-hunting experience. Though she is unsuccessful, she does uncover a wonderful Easter suprise. The little girl, and the reader, is introduced to the Pennsylvania Dutch technique of painting eggs, when she finds a cache of her grandmother's beautifully decorated eggs. The examples of folk art throughout the book are wonderful, and easily accessible for children. This book will prompt your family to begin their own egg decorating tradition.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kindergarten Egg Tree, March 28, 2007

By 

L. Wagner "Mrs. Wagner, Kindergarten Teacher" (Nashua, MT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Egg Tree (Paperback)

We use this book as a basis each year for an Egg Tree in Kindergarten. We read the story, then water color 2 dimensional construction paper eggs, and I paint the trunk on a bulletin board. The result is so cool--it is wonderfully colorful. I also have some Czech decorated real eggs to show them. This is a great book. For those worried about a religious setting for Easter (I'm not), this story has no mention of Easter as a religious holiday. It is an old story, but sometimes the old stories are the best. I wish the pictures were a little more colorful. I have never seen a publication of this book with more than 3 colors. Maybe it's because I'm a grandma, but I often wish that the older books would be republished. The kids like colors and gravitate toward those books that have newer graphics. But, some of the authors from the 40's, 50's and 60's are wonderful books, such as Margaret Wise Brown, and this one.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The egg and I, March 13, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Egg Tree (Hardcover)

Easter egg trees just haven't caught on to the same extent their Christmas tree brethren have. In today's high tech, fast-paced, Internet age it's a calming thing to stop a think a little bit about Easter eggs, and the trees on which they hang. "The Egg Tree" won its Caldecott medal in 1951 and became the selection of choice of the Institute of Graphic Arts. Here, author Katherine Milhous has taken the lively colors and sweeping designs of the Pennsylvania Dutch and applied them to a tale of Easter discoveries and mild fame.

Siblings Katy and Carl are spending their Easter seasons with their Grandmom and cousins. This being their first Easter with such relatives, they are woefully unprepared for the annual Easter Egg hunt. Katy is disappointed when she cannot find any eggs, but discovers a cache of beautifully hand-painted eggs tucked away in the attic. This leads to Grandmom teaching all the kiddies how to paint their own eggs, culminating in an egg tree that displays their work (and garners widespread fame as well).

Children unfamiliar with the Pennsylvania Dutch lifestyle will undoubtedly wonder why the characters in this tale look Amish. Some simple explanations (always assuming the parents themselves understand the distinction) may be in order. After that, expect to be fielding requests for egg painting as well. Helpful instructions detailing how one goes about egg painting are included on the back of the book jacket. Certainly the book and the instruction make egg blowing seem to be the simplest thing in the world. Just don't be surprised if you have a mighty difficult time blowing egg yolks out of tiny tiny holes.

On the whole, the book is strong. The colors are a little more muted than those of books today. And apart from Katy's initial fears that she would not find a single egg, there's not much in the way of dramatic tension. But that's all right. This book's a class act through and through. It may seem a bit dated, it's true. Just the same, it's nice to see a book looking at one of the less lauded holidays once in a while.