Module 11: An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston

Book Summary: An Egg is Quiet is a beautiful children's nonfiction book about the many different types of eggs that can be found around the world. The illustrations are colorful, beautiful and big.

APA Citation: Aston, D. & Long, S. (Illustrator). (2006). An egg is quiet. New York, NY: Chronicle Books.

Impressions: This book reminded me of something that I would have loved reading when I was little. It is informative and interesting and beautiful. The illustrations are detailed and bring the information to life. I found myself rereading it a few times, just to view the different pictures. There was information that I even learned while reading it, which I loved.

I enjoyed this book so much that it played a part in me determining what my theme would be for the story time I was putting on. I found the illustrations and sparse text to be perfect for a 3-5 aged story time. It allows the children to stop and view the pictures and ask questions or add commentary along the way.

It's a beautiful work of art and one that I'd consider adding to my own personal library.

Professional Review: 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.

Ruiz, G. (2007). Book review: An egg is quiet by Dianna Hutts Aston [Review of the book An egg is quiet by D. Aston]. Blogcritics.com. Retrieved April 12, 2015 from http://blogcritics.org/book-review-an-egg-is-quiet/.


Library Uses: I used this book in my spring-themed story time this semester. It is a great book to get kids interested in different animals and how animals that have eggs grow. There isn't too much text and the pictures are big and colorful, allowing children to find different and unique details in them.