Mary Veronicas Egg [Hardcover]

Nethery (Author), Yalowitz (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 1999 | Age Level: 4 and up

Mary Veronica learns an important lesson about love while she cares for an egg that is getting ready to hatch.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Feathery colored-pencil illustrations set a cozy, intimate tone for this sweetly wry tale of a girl who finds and cares for an orphaned egg. Mary Veronica is convinced there's something special inside the egg?"Maybe a platypus, or even a python")?while her sisters toss their own speculations into the mix: older and disdainful Mary Louise says, "That's a rotten egg," while younger and gullible Mary Margaret repeatedly contends, "It's a dinosaur egg. Can I have it?" Mary Veronica's beloved egg doesn't win her the gold ribbon for Most Unusual Pet at the school pet fair, but its contents (a duckling) do eventually win a special place in the girl's heart. Nethery's (Hannah and Jack) ingenuous tale is winningly told; her dry humor pervades in the snappy repartee between the sisters and in smaller touches like the "Egg on Board" sign that Mary Veronica tapes onto the school bus window. Yalowitz (Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch) makes effective use of line in his airy and delicately shaded illustrations, echoing the smooth oval of Mary Veronica's egg in the softly rounded shapes of the characters. This affectionate homage to the rewards of patience and perseverance is an altogether agreeable outing. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2-Mary Veronica finds a warm egg near the pond and feels sure that there is something special inside of it, something that will provide her with the winning entry in the Most Unusual Pet category at the school pet fair. Despite heckling from her sisters, she cares for the egg and carries it around in a fluff-filled box in a sling. She enters it in the contest even though it has not hatched. After all of the prizes are distributed, the egg finally cracks to reveal a duckling. The joy and pride of parenthood overcome all selfish plans and Mary Veronica is happy with her new baby. While the message of loving something for its own sake is clear, it is difficult to believe that the egg or the unhatched duck would have survived away from the nest and bounced around between home and school. Varying in size from small boxes to double-page spreads, the colored-pencil pictures in light hues are delightful. They contain just enough detail, and the faces of the doll-like characters are amazingly expressive. Still, Dr. Seuss's Horton knows much more about eggs and teaches a better lesson.
Marlene Gawron, Orange County Library, Orlando, FL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic (March 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0531301346
• ISBN-13: 978-0531301340
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 9.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.3 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #767,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Nethery is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher's Weekly bestselling author of many picture books for children, as well as books for readers of all ages.

She has collaborated with Newbery Honor recipient, Kirby Larson, to write Two Bobbies: A True Story of Hurricane Katrina, Friendship and Survival, and Nubs: The True Story of a Mutt, a Marine and a Miracle.

Two Bobbies received the ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Award and the 2009 SIBA Book Award. It was featured on NPR's All Things Considered and is a Junior Library Guild selection; a 2009 IRA Teachers' Choice; a 2009 IRA/CBC Children's Choice, a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People; and is included in The Best Children's books of the Year, Bank Street College.

Nubs is a New York Times Best Seller and recipient of the Christopher Award, the 2009 National Parenting Publication Gold Award, and is a Junior Library Guild Selection. Warner Brothers has optioned the book for a major motion picture.

Coming in June, 2010, is Mary's newest picture book, illustrated by John Manders--The Famous Nini: A Mostly True Story of How a Plain White Cat Became a Star. Set in 1890's Venice, it tells the story of the meteoric rise of a plain white cat to the world stage. His scrapbook includes a line of music from Giuseppe Verdi's La Traviata and is signed by such luminaries as the Czar of Russia, the Emperor of Ethiopia, Pope Leo XIII and the Queen and King of Italy.

Mary's writing studio and home are in Eureka, California where she lives with her husband Han, and their super brilliant cat, Dashiell, AKA the Baby Muse.

www.marynethery.com
www.twobobbies.com
www.thestoryofnubs.com