The Egg

Finding an enormous egg in the chicken coop, George decides to tend to it until it hatches, but when a baby dragon emerges, George knows he has a great deal of responsibility on his hands as he must teach the newborn many important lessons that will stay with him for the rest of his life.

K-Gr 2-A beautifully written fantasy with luminous, richly hued artwork that is as evocative as the text. When George finds a gigantic egg in his mother's chicken house, he realizes that it is special. Lugging it back to his room, he keeps it warm and reads to it until a baby dragon pecks its way out of the shell. The hatchling decides that the boy must be his mother. "George had never been a mother before, but he knew that it was his motherly duty to teach the dragon dragony ways." Hence, lessons commence in flying, fire breathing, damsel distressing, and knight slaying. George successfully raises the creature, only to learn that he must say good-bye as the dragon goes off to search for his own family. He later returns, though, to take George on a breathtaking flight to the place where these creatures live. When it is time for the boy to leave, he gives his friend a tight squeeze. The beast, in return, roars. "George didn't speak Dragon, but he knew exactly what the dragon had said: `Thank you.'" The paintings reflect the growing relationship between the child and his charge. The dragon is perfect for a young audience-realistic looking without being too scary. Each painting is a treasure on its own, filled with warm lighting, even warmer shadows, and incredible detail. This is one egg that won't gather dust on your shelves.-Lisa Gangemi Krapp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

In the tantalizing opening pages of this fantasy, a boy peers into a henhouse and sees a hen perched upon an enormous golden-brown egg: "George knew something wasn't right when he found more than he bargained for under his mother's favorite chicken." The only clue to the egg's source is a mysterious hole in the henhouse roof. George uses a wheelbarrow to maneuver the armchair-sized egg into his house, and in a tense four-part spread, he watches as something ("It definitely wasn't a chicken!") starts to hatch. After an all-too-brief period of suspense, a muscular, bat-winged baby dragon emerges, and George patiently trains it to fly and to aim its fiery breath. Robertson's (The Bed and Breakfast House) delicate, detail-rich watercolors resemble those in Peter Collington's wordless books, and indeed some of Robertson's multipanel illustrations convey the duo's silent communication (since George "didn't speak Dragon"). In one sequence, a lesson in "How to Defeat a Knight," George uses a wooden sword to mimic a certain saint, then waves a white flag as the dragon looks at him with affection. Yet many practical considerations go unpictured: How does George get the gigantic egg through his bedroom door? How does he befriend the dragon? And what does a kid feed a giant green lizard? Robertson hints at the magic in his opening pages, but unlike other tales with similar premises (such as Dick King-Smith's middle-grade novel The Water-Horse), his story doesn't realize its potential. Ages 4-8. (Jan.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.