Two eggs, please. [Hardcover]

Sarah Weeks (Author), Betsy Lewin (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2003

Eggs, eggs, eggs -- everyone wants eggs! But do they want the same kinds of eggs? NO! Some prefer scrambled, some like fried, and some even want them raw.

The only thing the hungry customers at this bustling diner seem to have in common is a desire for "TWO EGGS, PLEASE!"

At the heart of this clever new look at similarities and differences by acclaimed author Sarah Weeks and Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Betsy Lewin is an age-old truth -- it's what's inside that counts.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

A menagerie of customers parades through a diner, each one ordering "Two eggs, please." Sounds like an easy day for the fox waitress, right? Wrong. Everyone wants their eggs cooked (or not cooked!) differently. A red-capped rhino likes them sunny-side up, a stand-up bass-playing mouse in a tuxedo prefers them over easy, a stork in scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck asks for scrambled, and a snake on the shoulders of a nose ring-sporting crocodile wants them raw, natch. Each critter silently contemplates the others with one thought: "Different." Of course, when the unflappable bear chef starts to fill the orders with pairs of brown and white eggs, we are reminded of one of life's truisms: we’re all the same on the inside. Sarah Weeks and Caldecott Honor artist Betsy Lewin provide a unique and clever setting for a story with a simple, subtle message. (Ages 4 to 7) --Emilie Coulter

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 1–Weeks and Lewin do a superb job of exploring the concept of things being different and the same. The setting is a busy diner at breakfast time, where personified animals request two eggs prepared in different manners. The customers include a rhino, a mouse, a pelican, two canine cops, a gorilla and her baby, a ram, and a crocodile with a snake. Each one is rendered in the artist's distinctive and amusing watercolor cartoons, created with an economy of line and an abundance of personality. The "foxy" waitress and a big bear of a cook round out the charming and identifiable cast. A thoroughly delightful treat for both early readers and young listeners.–Donna Marie Wagner, Exeter Community Library, Reading, PA
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Product Details

• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 068983196X
• ISBN-13: 978-0689831966
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 10.4 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #194,397 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Sarah Weeks is the author of Oggie Cooder, So B. It, Jumping the Scratch, and the Guy series. She lives in New York City, where she practices charving at least once a fortnight.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It's about more than eggs, March 21, 2007

By 

J. Whitehead "20minday" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Two eggs, please. (Hardcover)

This wonderful and simple story teaches that people from all different walks of life may look different and have different jobs and like things differently yet we are really all the same. I have used this book with children ages 2 to 9. I often bring real eggs and we write down all things that make them different, size, shape, color, bumpy, etc. and then crack them open to see they are all the same on the inside. Follow this book with Julius Lester's Let's Talk About Race and you have a fabulous lesson on equality.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Cute Concept Book That Will Make You Want Breakfast, May 9, 2005

By 

Meredith Noire "Writer and Reader" (The Banks of the Wabash Far Away) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Two eggs, please. (Hardcover)

TWO EGGS, PLEASE is a well illustrated way to teach children how things can be the same yet different. The book contains very few words, most of them simple, and would be ideal for beginning readers. What really makes this book memorable are the outstanding pictures done in watercolor and ink.

Rendered in soft shapes and bright colors, this is the story of a diner visited late at night by a host of animals. One by one they take a seat at the counter and, in varying fonts, place an order with the fox waitress for two eggs. No one orders a two egg omelet, but they do request their eggs sunny-side up, over easy, scrambled, hard- and soft-boiled, poached, fried, raw, and on a roll. Collectively, they think they've each ordered something "different" but "the same." To help demonstrate this, the grizzly grill cook even uses two different kinds of eggs in preparing their orders.

In the end, everyone enjoys a lovely, two egg breakfast.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars And how do you like *your* eggs?, April 5, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Two eggs, please. (Hardcover)

A late night diner gets a lot of traffic in the wee hours of the morning. Everyone that enters orders two eggs, but how they want their eggs prepared is different. The fox waitress serves a rhino two sunny-side up eggs (and coffee--I noticed everyone gets coffee), a stork two scrambled eggs and a python two raw eggs, plus many of the other varieties of prepared eggs. The illustrations are fun and colorful, the text is easy to read and simple, and the story itself is a good springboard for discussing eggs, differences, eating out or breakfast.