Module 11: "An Egg is Quiet" by Dianna Aston

Book Cover Image:                     http://sciencenetlinks.com

Book Summary:

This beautifully illustrated non-fiction book won the 2007 AAAS/Subaru SB&F Prize for Excellence in Science Books. It describes many different types of eggs in detail, with pictures to emphasize their beauty and uniqueness and matches them up with their wild ‘parents’ so readers can learn information about eggs and where they come from.

Eggs are a staple in the nutritional life of human beings as well as developing chicks.  They are a  graet source of protein, iron and many vitamins. They are used in baking and in agriculture (as fertilizers and animal feed).

APA Reference:  

Aston, D. (2006).  An egg is quiet.   San Francisco, CA:  Chronicle Books.
   

My Impressions:

I thought this book was extremely detailed and gave lots of good information about animals and birds that produce eggs.  There are so many different types of eggs in nature, as well as different sizes, colors, etc.  But they all serve the basic function of sustaining life for the growing chick, and in some cases, provide food for humans as well.  This book would be great to introduce young ones to the beauty and miracles of nature.

Professional Review:

PreS-Gr. 2. This beautifully illustrated introduction to eggs resembles pages drawn from a naturalist's diary. The text, scrolled out in elegant brown ink, works on two levels. Larger print makes simple observations that, read together, sound almost like poetry: "An egg is quiet. . . . An egg is colorful. An egg is shapely." On each spread, words in smaller print match up with illustrations to offer more facts about bird and fish eggs across the animal spectrum. The illustrations are too detailed for read-alouds, but there's a great deal here to engage children up close. The succinct text will draw young fact hounds, particularly fans of Steve Jenkins' Biggest, Strongest, Fastest (1995) and his similar titles. Long's illustrations are elegant and simple, and the gallery of eggs, as brilliantly colored and polished as gems, will inspire kids to marvel at animals' variety and beauty. A spread showing X-ray views of young embryos growing into animal young makes this a good choice for reinforcing concepts about life cycles. Gillian Engberg

[Review of the book An egg is quiet, by D. Aston].  (2006, April 15). Booklist,
 102(16).  48.  Retrieved from http://www.booklist.com. 

 Library Uses:

Although the pictures are too detailed to make this a good storytime read, you could still use it along with other books on eggs and chicks to start a discussion of eggs, especially around Easter time when children are potentially handling eggs more than usual and could show an increased interest in them.  You could have fingerplays about chicks and hatching from an egg.  In the book, readers learn that it takes chickes about 21 days to hatch.  Children could all sit on the floor and wrap their arms around themselves, and imagine what it would feel like to be a chick and hatch…to imagine themselves inside the shell, and then pretending they are the chick, breaking out.  How would that feel?