The Egg

by Geraldo Valério

Overview

The Egg is an imaginative and unusual story about a bird and a child, and how they become a family. The wordless story opens with a crane caring lovingly for an egg. During a storm, a gust of wind blows the egg from its nest. Despite searching far and wide, the crane can’t find the lost egg anywhere. Heartbroken, the crane spots something—an egg! Not its own, but since this egg is also alone, the crane rescues it to safety.

When the egg hatches, the little one inside is—unexpectedly—a human baby. No matter their differences, the crane loves and cares for the child, adopting it into an avian life. When they take flight together, this unusual duo encounters other birds with their young ones—the babies all a diverse array of creatures, showing that families come in all shapes and sizes.

This whimsical story is open to interpretation and imagination, but above all imparts the message that a loving family can be whatever we make it.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771473743
Publisher:	OWLKIDS BOOKS
Publication date:	08/15/2020
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 9.50(h) x (d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

GERALDO VALÉRIO is a children's book author and illustrator whose books have been published in Canada, the United States and many other countries around the world, including Brazil, China, France, Portugal, and the UK. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

06/08/2020

Working in crisp collages of cut and painted paper, Valério (At the Pond) creates a wordless origin story. A stork sits on an egg, the picture of contentment. Then, during a rainstorm, the egg falls from the nest. Dark, cut-paper raindrops fall across the page; the stork’s white tears fall, too. In flight, the bird spots another, similar egg. It peers hard at it, neck curled all the way to the ground, then carries the prize back to its nest. Soon, the egg hatches: it’s a pink human baby. The stork protects the babe, feeds it, shelters it in its big white wings. Neighboring storks fly by, each carrying a youngster of their own—a piglet, a brown-skinned human child, a goldfish in a bowl—before this stork decides that its baby is already home. Valério’s memorable artwork and imaginative power give this lighthearted tale extra impact through meticulous spreads that produce a sense of sprightly life and warmth: the stork wields its long scarlet beak and ungainly neck with lifelike sinuousness, and close-ups of its tender care for the infant register as a loving parody of nature documentaries. Ages 3–7. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"No words are needed to tell this lovely tale. Bold colors, well-constructed collage work and exceptional posing will encourage discussion."

Sal's Fiction Addiction

"Especially and unreservedly recommended for family, daycare center, preschool, elementary school, and community library collections."

Midwest Book Review

"Perfect for lap sits or story hours, this works on a couple of levels: as a silly tale of a human raised by a bird, but also to reaffirm that loving families come in all shapes and sizes."

Booklist – STARRED REVIEW

"Valério shows off his skill with design and collage in this wordless story about the many forms a family can take."

The Horn Book

"The Egg is a wordless picture book, but, in the hands of an artist with the skill of Valério, the pictures certainly do tell a thousand words."

Canadian Review of Materials

"Perfect for lap sits or story hours, this works on a couple of levels: as a silly tale of a human raised by a bird, but also to reaffirm that loving families come in all shapes and sizes."

Booklist – STARRED REVIEW

★ 2020-05-26
A crane’s search for a missing egg is unsuccessful—or is it?

In the opening scene, Valério’s signature cut-paper collage features a nest built of strips of different shades of brown, textured paper. Filling a double-page spread, the thin rectangles encircle the crane’s red legs, which, in turn, frame a pink, polka-dot oval. The wordless story continues with the bird flying away just as a storm rolls in, the egg eventually spilling into the moving water below. A tearful quest does not yield the original specimen, but the parent finds another egg-shaped bundle and scoops it up with care. Back at the nest, a rosy-faced human baby emerges from the swaddling. Cherries and rocking lead to smiles, and when the graceful creature soars into the sky, child in tow, it joins a flock of other types of birds: One bears a pig, another totes a goldfish bowl. Still others carry children created from brown paper. They all thrill to acrobatics until evening descends and cuddling begins. This cheerful portrait of adoptive families is not weighed down with any pedantry. It simply shows that nurturing hearts expand with love when presented with opportunity. The artist’s bold palette, striking patterns, and humorous poses will provoke commentary about colors, shapes, and design as well.

Valério’s visual storytelling will excite the eyes and warm the hearts of viewers young and old. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews