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.
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