Customer Reviews

First the Egg (Caldecott Honor Book and Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards))

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
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Which came first--the chicken or the egg? Finally, someone is here to tell us. But the answer later.

"First the egg," written and illustrated by Laura Vaccaro Seeger, is a Caldecott honor winner for 2008 and an honor book for the Theodor Seuss Geisel (Dr. Seuss) Award. What makes it special? Both the artwork and the story, or actually, in this case, concepts that lead from one transformation to the next. Two previous clever winners are Flotsam (Caldecott Medal Book) by David Wiesner and Black and White, an earlier Caldecott by David Macauley.

I took this book from a display in our bi-annual Book Fair. I read it in just one minute. Then reread it. And reread it. Every time I pick up this seemingly simple book, I see something else I missed. Even the covers are part of the story. This book is more than clever--it is brilliant, as in illuminating.

Listen, here is the story. Get comfortable and let me read it to you:

First the EGG
then the CHICKEN
First the TADPOLE
then the FROG
First the SEED
then the FLOWER
First the CATERPILLAR
then the BUTTERFLY
First the WORD
then the STORY
First the PAINT
then the PICTURE, First the CHICKEN
then the EGG!

Well? Exactly! Without the bold colors and almost in-your-face images in the background, the words are fine, but...? A Caldecott Award is given to the most distinguished picture book of the year. Please look at the cover image with this review. That gives an idea of the power of the colors and paint technique, which is impasto on canvas, providing two layers of texture. That is what this book has--texture: layers of texture in the art and the concepts.

Art? A creative, bold enterprise that can make the chicken or the egg first. Think it, do it. Create. That is exactly what Ms Seeger did. She created a bold, creative way to examine this age-old riddle.

"First the egg" is highly recommended, not only for children, who will adore it, but also for adults, who will be reminded of the grandeur of creation in all its many forms. Great children's books belong in the collection of adults as well as in children's.

I have become a big fan of this author's work, which is saying a lot as I am, I'm told, very hard to please. There is a combination of ingenuity and beauty in this book that is almost impossible to describe without book in hand. Very useful for teaching transformation and the way Seeger works in the concept of creativity is no less than brilliant. I highly recommend this book to anyone from age 3 to 90.Dog and Bear (Neal Porter Books) (Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Winner-Best Picture Book) (Awards))The Hidden Alphabet (Ala Notable Children's Books. Younger Readers (Awards)) (Neal Porter Books)Lemons Are Not Red

We purchased this book for our 3 yr. old grandson for Christmas, and it was wonderful. He just loved it and ask us to read it to him every night before he went to bed, and during the day also. It is easy to read, and is a good teaching tool.

A lovely book for young people, with die cut pages that explain some of life's mysteries in an age appropriate way.

First the Egg exemplifies the reasons the ALA awards Caldecott honors on picture books for the pictures: pictures may tell stories more powerfully than words alone. The story is simple and succinct, but the pictures tell the story. This picture book is nonfiction, and it is informative, but its information more powerfully told through the pictures. The backdrop of the pages are paintings. Through the colors of these paintings and the cutouts of the pages , Seeger makes the connection between eggs and chickens, tadpoles and frogs, seem even more literal. The first page, for example shows a cutout of an egg. When the reader turns the page, it becomes clear the egg was part of the chicken, and the cutout now uses the yellow from the underneath page to form the body of the baby chicken. This theme of continuity and connectedness continues throughout the short book. The pictures in this story are sure to delight and amaze young readers, but the pictures and visual displays are cool enough to fascinate older readers who might want to understand how Seeger achieved the cutout effects. For older students, I would follow a reading of this book with a craft challenge for them to make their own cutout story.

FIRST THE EGG is appealing to both young and old. The cut-outs bring out interest of young readers what the next image is going to be. This picture book is so simple in its story and picture that I think it is a great tool to make learning fun. The author cleverly uses causality dilemma of `chicken or the egg' and introduces whole-ray of things that begin and grows or evolves into something else. The page starts out with, `first the egg' and ends with...(don't want to give away the ending but isn't it obvious?) to come back to the beginning answer the never-ending question, first the egg.

Not a night has gone by in weeks where my 18 month old daughter has not picked out First the Egg as one of two books to be read to her before bedtime. The simplicity of the imagery has taught her the vocabulary within the book along with the relationships, including fairly abstract concepts for a toddler (such as the difference between paint and picture). Overall, this is the best picture book puchase I've made.

This is a great book...fun for both kids and adults. I love how the pages have cut outs that clue you in to the next page. Fun!

Great simple illustrations with bold colors - neat thinking - leaves age-old question unanswered, which does come first - chicken or the egg?

First the Egg is a bright, clever, and utterly delightful children's book. As a grandma to seven lovely grandchildren, I am alway looking for that special book that teaches age-appropriate life lessons in imaginative ways. Superb!