Module 7: An Egg is Quiet

Summary: This beautifully illustrated book shows that eggs come in every kind of shape, size, color, and texture.  It also gives an overview of how an egg is protective of a life.

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

Impressions: When I think of an egg I think of breakfast and the typical white or brown chicken eggs that we normally see.  I know that I have seen other eggs before but never like this.  I have seen the broken pieces of a small blue robin's egg and I have seen some of my aunt's green and speckled chicken eggs, but it was interesting to see all of the different shapes and sizes of eggs.  We know that eggs have a shell that protects the insides but to have the whys and hows described in beautiful full color illustrated pages was great.  The author describes shapes, sizes, colors, and even describes what happens inside of an egg.  This book was simple and interesting.  It has life like illustrations of many different eggs and at times they looked so real that they could be picked up right off the page.

Professional Review:

AN EGG IS QUIET

by Dianna Aston, illustrated by Sylvia Long

Age Range: 6 - 9

Worthy successor to Ruth Heller’s Chickens Aren’t The Only Ones (1981), this engrossing album pairs images of dozens of precisely detailed eggs and their diverse wild parents to basic facts presented in neatly hand-lettered lines. Nearly all depicted actual size (and those that aren’t, are consistently so labeled), Long’s eggs look real enough to pick up, whether placed in natural settings or suspended on white pages. All, whether from birds, insects, reptiles, fish or amphibians, are not only identified, but Aston adds both topical phrases—“Eggs come in different sizes”—to each spread and, usually, memorably presented additional facts: “An ostrich egg can weigh as much as 8 pounds. It’s so big and so round, it takes two hands to hold one egg.” A delight for budding naturalists of all stripes, flecks, dots and textures. (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-9)

An Egg is Quiet. (2010, May 20). Retrieved from https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/dianna-aston/an-egg-is-quiet/

Library Uses: This book could be shared with a science teacher that is working on an animal unit.  It could also be used as part of a discussion of farms the cold include a mobile animal exhibit.