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Egg Drop
by
Mini Grey
Now for something completely different from Mini Grey!
A mother hen tells her chicks about the egg that wanted to fly. “The egg was young. It didn’t know much. We tried to tell it, but of course it didn’t listen.” The egg loves looking up at the birds (yes, it has eyes). It climbs 303 steps (yes, it has legs) to the top of a very tall tower—and jumps. It feels an enormous e...more
A mother hen tells her chicks about the egg that wanted to fly. “The egg was young. It didn’t know much. We tried to tell it, but of course it didn’t listen.” The egg loves looking up at the birds (yes, it has eyes). It climbs 303 steps (yes, it has legs) to the top of a very tall tower—and jumps. It feels an enormous e...more
Hardcover, 32 pages
Published
July 14th 2009
by Knopf Books for Young Readers
(first published 2002)
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Community Reviews
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"This is the story of an egg that wanted to fly." This egg, who never gets a name (which is probably a good thing), thinks and plans, trying to figure out how he can fly. One day he finds a tall tower, so, in an attempt to fly, he climbs to the top and jumps off.
The illustrations that accompany this somewhat strange story are really beautiful, most of the time. I especially love the illustration of the egg standing on the edge of the tower, looking down. It's a gorgeous tw...more
The illustrations that accompany this somewhat strange story are really beautiful, most of the time. I especially love the illustration of the egg standing on the edge of the tower, looking down. It's a gorgeous tw...more
Grey returns with another fantastical tale about an inanimate object. This time it is an egg. An egg who would not wait. An egg who would not listen. The Egg wanted to fly – like a bird, like a helicopter, like a round brown blimp. But it did not understand aerodynamics, so it headed up a tower to soar. At first the egg thought it was flying. But it was falling instead. Don’t despair, it did not go to waste.
Grey is wonderfully quirky in all of her picture books. Mixing in Ber...more
Grey is wonderfully quirky in all of her picture books. Mixing in Ber...more
Quirky, detailed illustrations follow the egg's daydreams of flying to its ultimate demise. The art is a combination of photography, interesting textures, and cartoony drawings. I particularly love that the mother chicken's feathers include a downward-pointing arrow pattern. The story is basically a retelling of Humpty-Dumpty, but told in a zany, wistful voice that wishes the egg had just waited to become a chicken (though chickens can't really do much other than flap their wings a bit, can t...more
Okay, this was in my review bag this month and the more I read it the more I actually liked it!
Review for children's meeting:
"A mother hen tells her chicks about the egg that wanted to fly. The egg was young. It didn't know much. We tried to tell it, but of course it didn't listen. The egg loves looking up at the birds (it has eyes). The egg climbs (it has legs) to the top of a very tall tower and jumps. 'Wheee!' it cries. 'I am flying.' But it is not flying. I...more
Review for children's meeting:
"A mother hen tells her chicks about the egg that wanted to fly. The egg was young. It didn't know much. We tried to tell it, but of course it didn't listen. The egg loves looking up at the birds (it has eyes). The egg climbs (it has legs) to the top of a very tall tower and jumps. 'Wheee!' it cries. 'I am flying.' But it is not flying. I...more
Lovers of twisted fairy tales and those with an otherwise chronically sick sense of humor will enjoy this newest twist on Humpty Dumpty. The story begins as an inspirational tale of an egg who wants to revolutionize the history of the world by flying before it's hatched. The egg goes to great lengths to accomplish his dream, only to discover it's not quite all it's cracked up to be. Grey's illustrations are brilliant and clever (be sure to note the newspaper text within the story).
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I really liked this one, but the end left me a bit jangled. I love the beginning, as the Hen tells all the chicks the cautionary tale of the egg who wanted to fly: "if only it had waited." The art is classic Mini Grey fun, and I love the build-up of the egg climbing up to the top of the tall, tall tower and taking a step into space. The page showing how they tried to fix the egg with bandaids and sticky tape was great (the tomato soup felt a little gory), but the last page made me shu...more
The always clever Mini Grey does it again with this silly and slightly horrifying account of an egg that wanted to fly. There was a little egg that wanted to fly. Even though the hen told him to wait, he set off to fly anyway (here are funny illustrations of an egg with eyes and legs) and climbed a big tower. Sadly, there is no happy ending, as the little egg plummets to earth, illustrating the way gravity works in the real world. Mini Grey's illustrations are humorous and goofy and perfectl...more
As an adult, I thought this book was hilarious and outrageously funny. Four stars, at least. However as a book to share with a child, the ending is abrupt and not the least funny. I'm not sure what the "moral" of this Humpty-Dumpty-inspired tale is. "If only it had waited," we're told. But for what? Chickens don't really fly. But since this is fantasy, "egg-saduration" is to be expected. It's a fun book for older kids and adults, but read through it first before sha...more
Follow the tragic tale of the egg who wanted to fly in this fun and creative story! Egg has watched bats, airplanes, balloons and clouds all his life and wants nothing more than to be able to fly...so he decides to take matters into his own hands when he climbs the Very Tall Tower and takes the plunge, quite literally! Grey does a wonderful job of using serious tones in humorous ways. This would be a fun way to introduce Bernoulli's principle!
A cautionary tale that I think is most appreciated by adults. The humor is a bit mature for the age at which this book seems to be directed. I could even see sensitive children being upset about the (spoiler alert) graphic demise of the egg. It's a shame, because the art is bold and funny.
Nicole
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
any and all
Shelves:
picture-books,
talking-animals
My love for this book knows no bounds. My love overtakes any chance of an eloquent review. All I have to offer (besides my undying adoration) are these few remarks.
Arlene Sardine revisited.
Collage.
The smiling egg on a plate.
Ketchup or blood? You decide.
Arlene Sardine revisited.
Collage.
The smiling egg on a plate.
Ketchup or blood? You decide.
This book was okay; I didn't really find it that interesting. It did show that eggs are something we eat and also that they come from chickens. It would be most appropriate for a kindergarten class, but I'm not sure I would have it in mine.
You don't realize this is a Humpty Dumpty story until the egg who wants to fly has a great fall. I chuckled when I caught on, and then frowned a little at the ending in which Humpty's remains are turned into breakfast. Still, it's charming.
Still, the fact that chickens can't fly kind of throws a wrench into the moral ("If only it had waited").
Still, the fact that chickens can't fly kind of throws a wrench into the moral ("If only it had waited").
Very odd picture book about an egg that wants to fly...and throws itself off a tower to accomplish that feat. It ends about as well as you expect. The illustrations are amusing, but I have no idea what a child would make of this.
A very funny cautionary tale of an egg who wanted to fly. "The egg was young. It didn't listen. If only it had waited." Great illustrations and a mention of the Bernoulli Principle should land this in any classroom study of eggs.
Humorouse story of an egg that wishes to fly instead of waiting to see what would happen when it hatched. Kinda gory and the pictures are very strange. I think the style is some sort of collage.
A great must-read book that smashes traditional the-skys-the-limit themes and teaches our children to lower their ambitions and be followers. Like sheep but in this case chickens.
I thought this book was terrible! It was sad and morbid! It could have been cute if the egg had hatched midair and flew, that was what I expected. But to be eaten?!
I have heard my first grader read this book over and over again. She thinks it is hilarious!
"The egg was young... it didn't listen. If only it has waited."
"The egg was young... it didn't listen. If only it has waited."
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Off beat silly story about an egg who attempts to fly. Guess what happens? Cute, colorful illustrations that cover the page and cover the story in a tongue in cheek way.
A egg want so fly - but he won't listen to anyone that cannot. If he just wouldn't have listened he wouldn't have ended up as someone's breakfast. Good for storytime
Mini Grey is my hero--she does dark like no other. I absolutely cannot wait until "Jim, Who Ran Away From His Nurse and Was Eaten by a Lion" comes out in 2010.
Very funny. Not sure if the preschool crowd is up for a broken egg joke. But I will definitely give it a try cause it is funny!!!
Such a cute book, not an ending you'd expect. My kids are obsessed with eggs, books with/about/feature eggs, so this was perfect.
Not much of a story and if a writer is going to give an egg personality, maybe this ending isn't the best way to go.
I have a werid sense of humor;that being said this book made me laugh.lol.
This starts out as an innocent picture book, but it concludes with a pretty horrifying ending.
Cute simple story with a great lesson for youngsters!
caroline did not care for this book, i did - dark humor
My kids like it, but it is a disturbing book
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