Picture Perfect Story Time: EGG by Kevin Henkes
Spring has officially sprung! And while it may not feel exactly like spring (especially here in chilly NYC) we know it's only a matter of time until the grass is green and the birds are chirping. Celebrate the start of spring in your classroom or library with a picture perfect story time for Kevin Henkes's latest, Egg!
About the Book:
This masterful and stylistically original picture book—a graphic novel for preschoolers—introduces young children to four eggs. One is blue, one is pink, one is yellow, and one is green. Three of the eggs hatch, revealing three little birds who fly away. But the fourth egg, the green egg, does not hatch. Why not? The three birds return to investigate. Crack! The green egg hatches, too, revealing a baby alligator! Startled (and afraid they might be lunch), the birds fly off the page, leaving the baby alligator alone, sad, lonely, and miserable. The baby birds return—did they decide they had misjudged this big green baby—and the four new friends head off on an adventure together. With a surprising and compelling mix of comic-like panels, wordless pages and spreads, and a short text featuring word repetition, surprise, and suspense, Egg is an ideal book for emergent readers as well as for sharing in a group.
Story Time Activities for EGG:
Tell It Like It Is
As you turn the pages, ask the children to tell the story, drawing conclusions from the illustrations about what is happening in the book.What's In There?
After the first three eggs hatch, ask children to predict what will hatch from the fourth egg. They can draw their predictions on a blank egg template.Synonyms Mean the Same
Discuss what a synonym is, and point out the synonyms on the page showing the alligator’s feelings (alone/lonely, sad/miserable). Ask children to come up with synonyms for key words, such as big (large, enormous, huge), run (dart, race, sprint), or talk (chat, speak, say).Who Else Hatches?
Read a nonfiction book or visit a website to learn about other animals that lay eggs. Make a chart to display the findings.How Do You Feel?
Discuss the characters’ feelings throughout the story and list names of feelings on a chart. The birds are surprised and frightened, but then curious. The alligator is lonely and sad, but then happy.
Download the entire picture perfect story time kit for EGG, here:
