When Duck finds an egg of his own he's delighted: it's the most beautiful egg in the world! But all the other birds think it's a very odd egg indeed and everyone's in for a big surprise when the egg hatches. Children and adults alike will love the witty outcome and Emily Gravett's playful watercolour and pencil illustrations.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From School Library Journal
PreSchool-K—This is the story of a drake who is feeling left out. "All the birds had laid an egg. All except for Duck." When he finds a huge, green-spotted egg, he loves it right away. Sitting high atop it—so high that he barely fits into the picture—he is subjected to the taunts of the egg layers: "Not pretty." "It'll never hatch!" "Ha ha!" Gravett uses narrow pages that gradually increase in size to reveal all of the other eggs hatching, from the smallest chick to the tallest flamingo. While the moms cuddle their new hatchlings, Duck waits—and waits. Leaning against the large egg, he knits up a storm until "Creak Crack, SNAP": out pops an enormous alligator, scaring all of the scoffing birds right off the page. The final, priceless illustration shows an adoring alligator marching—in four knitted slippers and a muffler—behind Duck, murmuring, "Mama." There are many aspects of the story that make it worth adding to the what-have-I-hatched collection. First, it's so simple that toddlers can enjoy it. Second, the layout is unique and well suited to the plot. Third, the illustrations are a joy to behold: funny, personable, and oh-so-eye-catching. The ecru background on every page is a nice touch, lending the book a little extra cachet. Kids will love cracking the pages of this exceptional story.—Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
All the birds have laid an egg except Duck. Fortunately, he finds one and it’s beautiful, but the birds laugh at his enormous, green-speckled egg. Their eggs hatch; Duck’s doesn’t. He waits and waits until—SNAP!—a huge alligator breaks out of the shell. Gravett is on a roll (well, actually, an egg roll) with this charming visual joke. Cleverly designed with graduated cut pages as each egg—“Creak Crack”—opens, the spacious composition includes humorous details and a palette of green daubs on the white egg that harmoniously matches Duck’s green neck. The handsome illustrations on classy cream-colored paper, the inviting cover, and the scream-inducing surprise ending make this an “egg-cellent” book for sharing and a “just ducky” natural for storytime. Preschool-Grade 2. --Julie Cummins
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
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More About the Author
Emily Gravett is the author and illustrator of Spells, The Odd Egg, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal), Monkey and Me and Meerkat Mail. Her first book, Wolves, was the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Boston Globe/Horn Book Honor Award for Illustration. Her second book, Orange Pear Apple Bear, a Quills Award finalist and on the shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal, was a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year and a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year. Emily lives in Brighton, England, with her partner, their daughter, and the family dog.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
VIVE LA DIFFERENCE !,
This review is from: The Odd Egg (Hardcover)
Author/illustrator Emily Gravett has received numerous accolades for her work including the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Boston Globe-Horn Book Honor Award for Illustration. She deserves recognition again for The Odd Egg, a smile provoking, cleverly designed story about a duck who very much wanted to lay an egg.
It was that time of year - all the other birds save for Duck had produced an egg. Luckily Duck found one.. For an egg it was quite unusual; the other birds thought it very odd and said it would never hatch. Nonetheless, Duck thought it the most beautiful egg he had ever seen. Although it took some doing he sat on the egg and even proceeded to do some knitting for the blessed event. The other birds' eggs eventually cracked, the owl's and the chicken's but still nothing for Duck. At last Duck's egg began to creak then crack until out popped a surprise. Ingeniously cut pages allow youngsters to follow the egg's progress to a humorous finish that will undoubtedly result in laughter as well as questions. Enjoy! - Gail Cooke
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Crack! Snap! Fun for Little Ones - (The Odd Egg),
This review is from: Odd Egg (Hardcover)
The "Odd Egg" is a cute book about a group of birds, all of whom have laid an egg -- except for Duck. Chicken, Flamingo, Owl, Parrot and a cute unidentifiable bird like a wren, all have eggs... but not Duck. And then, one day, he finds an egg. (Yes, Duck is a boy, which might explain why he didn't lay an egg.) And it's not just any egg. It is a HUGE, white egg with green spots.
Duck thinks his egg is grand, but the others aren't so sure. In any case, they all sit down and await the day when their eggs hatch. And they do! All except the BIG egg. The tension builds for kids as one by one the other babies are born... and then, crack!, the big baby does hatch. Talking Points::: "The Odd Egg" is a cute book that is well worth tracking down at the library. The artwork is simple and in soothing muted tones. The story has a surprising ending if you are a small person: older Toddlers and Preschoolers and Kindergartners. The center section of the book is really nicely done as the pages have been cut down so that they overlap and hide some of the action until you flip them over. Thus what you see at first is a line of expectant parents and a line of cracking eggs. Then with the first flip you see the 'wren' fly forwards to greet it's baby. And with the next flip you find the chicken hugging it's newborn chick. It's the sort of things young children love to toy with. When it comes to the last egg, moms might want to preview the ending as it shows feathers and birds flying off in all directions. (Actually it shows their feet, but there's a sense of distress) I know 98% of children are only going to laugh and giggle at this, but I happened to have had a son in the 2% who this would have bothered. I'm sure you know your child well enough to know whether to ignore this comment or not. Other wise a sweet, fun book. Accelerated Reading = generic "1" ** 3.5 Stars ** Pam T~ mom and reviewer at BooksForKids-reviews (#1040)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gravett strikes again!,
By
This review is from: Odd Egg (Paperback)
Emily Gravett, The Odd Egg (Simon and Schuster, 2008)
Gravett is certainly on form these days; first Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears and now Thee Odd Egg, which starts out looking as if it's going to be one of Gravett's minor books, but gets inventive fast, and the ending is right up there with Wolves. If you're not familiar with Emily Gravett yet, this is a great way to start. ****
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