REVIEW

Book Review: An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston

Written by Gina Ruiz
Published June 21, 2007

An Egg is Quiet is a glorious feast for the eyes. The book is an illustrated introduction to eggs of amazing diversity. The simple and poetic text just adds a quiet drama to the whole book: “An egg is quiet It sits there, under its mother's feathers... On top of its father's feet ...Warm. Cozy."

The book displays eggs in all their glory, with different textures, colors and themes. There are lacewing eggs, salmon roe, ostrich eggs, etc. Each is gorgeously painted in rich, layered watercolors of such depth and color that they seem to be real. You can almost feel the depth of texture.

The endpapers of the book are pale blue and speckled, giving the feel of an eggshell. The attention to detail is simply amazing. What a labor of love this must have been!

The book talks about the shapes of eggs – the tubular eggs of the Dogfish Shark or round like a sea turtle’s. It talks about size – the mammoth eggs of the ostrich. It goes on to discuss egg embryos, egg habitats, etc.

The colors! Oh, the colors used are wonderful! Pale blues, mottled greens, light browns, oranges that ache with their beauty, butter yellows, stunningly simple brown ink text that adds to the lushness of the colors used in the gallery of jewels called eggs. What a lovely way to teach children (and adults) about nature and its diversity.

An Egg is Quiet is instructional, arty and simply beautiful. An absolute must for any library and a book that is sure to be pored over lovingly for years to come. A masterpiece!

Recommended for ages 3 and up.

Gina MarySol Ruiz is a freelance writer, poet and book reviewer. Gina has maintained several blogs over the years. Gina is also a columnist with Blogcritics.org. She has also been a panelist for the Cybils awards two years running in the Graphic Novel category. She is a member in good standing of SCBWI - Los Angeles Chapter, Linkedin Journalists and Las Comadres Para Las Americas. You can find her on Foodbuzz, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and LinkedIn.
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An Egg Is Quiet An Egg Is Quiet
Dianna Hutts Aston
Book,

Book Review: An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston
Published: June 21, 2007
Type: Review
Section: Books
Filed Under: Books: Children, Books: Nonfiction, Books: Outdoors
Part of a feature: Minor Considerations: Children's and Young Adult Books
Writer: Gina Ruiz
Gina Ruiz's BC Writer page
Gina Ruiz's personal site
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