Module Eleven: An Egg is Quiet by Dianna Aston
Bibliography
Aston, D. (2006). An egg is quiet (S. Long, Illus.). San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books.Summary
This book describes and depicts a wide range of bird, insect, and reptile eggs in great detail. It explores where eggs are stored before hatching and the appearance of various eggs. Some are beautifully-patterned, and others rough in texture. Hummingbird eggs are the size of a jelly bean, while ostrich eggs can weigh up to eight pounds. Aston's book also touches on the gestation period of several varieties, and also tells how each part of the egg benefits the embryo. The last two pages come full circle, showing the "hatched" versions of a slew of birds, insects, and reptiles.
My Impressions
This is a beautifully illustrated book and is full of much detail -- so much detail, in fact, that I had to go back and look at several pages again because I missed something interesting. I'm amazed at just how many different kinds of eggs were included in this book; the first double-page spread packs in more than sixty different types. The tone of An Egg is Quiet suits its title: It is calm, soothing, and deceptively dense. Aston and Long provide a vast amount of information for young readers, as well as some unique details (a ruler at the top of the page in the section about egg size). Like me, most readers will probably have to go back and re-read sections to absorb everything. Then again, I think that was the author's intention.
Review
Journal of Education (excerpt)
"One can imagine a budding scientist taking the notes and making the drawings in An Egg Is Quiet,
a gentle and unassuming book, with its hand-lettered text and muted
watercolor paintings of a variety of eggs and the animals that produce
them. In addition to receiving scores of
awards, Dianna Aston and Sylvia Long's first collaboration has been
recently discovered by both scientific and literacy organizations, from
NPR's Science Friday to the PBS show Between the Lions. Their second effort, the equally extraordinary A Seed Is Sleepy, will most likely follow in its footsteps.
Although the narrative of the book takes readers from quiet egg to noisy baby, its contents could serve as a very informative field guide.
Readers of all ages could use the paintings and descriptions of the
more than sixty eggs, as well as the final pages which display their
grown-up inhabitants, to identify them on nature walks.
Aston and Long offer valuable information about why eggs' designs are so functional and explain the parts of the egg and the sequence of egg to hen, salmon, or grasshopper, illustrated and labeled precisely.
The qualities of an egg described by Aston are both conventional and scientific (we learn about an egg's size, shape, color, and texture) as well as surprising and poetic (we learn that an egg is quiet, clever, artistic, and giving).
But it is the poetic qualities, both in word and picture, which move
this book from scientifically accurate account to literary invitation to
observe closely, imagine, and discover what qualities seem important to
the observer."
Use in Library
Because of the great amount of detail in this book, it would be better suited for individual reading by elementary school children. Many of the illustrations are small and much of the text is even smaller, so this wouldn't work well in a read-aloud setting.
This could be used in an animal or nature display with other books of a similar theme. Children may not find this wonderful book by browsing on their own, so a display would inspire interest in it and the subject matter as a whole.
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