Odd Egg [Paperback]

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: MacMillan Children's Books,
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230531350
• ISBN-13: 978-0230531352
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 8 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #859,814 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars VIVE LA DIFFERENCE !, February 17, 2009

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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), November 12, 2009

By 

Pam Tee "Busy Mom" - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

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!, March 30, 2009

By 

Robert P. Beveridge "xterminal" (Lakewood, OH) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

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. ****