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P. Zonka Lays an Egg

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When dreamy hen P. Zonka starts laying eggs, the other chickens are in for a spectacular surprise!

Extraordinary hen P. Zonka spends her time taking in the beauty around her: the shiny green of the grass, the buttery yellow of the dandelions, the deep blue of the sky. The other hens can't understand why she never lays eggs like they do―they think she's just plain lazy. But when P. Zonka finally decides to give egg-laying a try, the other chickens are in for a spectacular surprise!

This springtime delight, inspired by Ukrainian pysanky, will enrich the imagination and help readers appreciate the beauty of the world.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2015

1 person is currently reading
115 people want to read

About the author

Julie Paschkis

61 books28 followers
I was born in 1957 and grew up in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia. I have a brother and two sisters. My parents encouraged us to make things, to read, to draw and to play outside.

I attended Germantown Friends School, Ringerike Folkehogskole in Norway, Cornell University and the School for American Craftsmen at RIT, where I got a BFA. I have a teaching certificate from UW and I taught art to children for several years, mostly at the Bush School.

Since 1991 I have been painting and illustrating full time. I have had many shows of my paintings and of various other work (including cut paper, embroidery and bread). I illustrate books. I design fabric and make quilts. My work flows in many directions, but all of the ideas and creations are connected. The work I do in one area inspires the work in others. Ideas beget ideas.

I live in Seattle with my husband Joe Max Emminger. He is a painter.

I still like to make things, to read, draw and play outside.

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5 stars
111 (22%)
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238 (47%)
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132 (26%)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews
Profile Image for Cassandra Elise.
133 reviews24 followers
October 10, 2015
Cute children's book, and I like the educational lesson on Ukrainian Easter eggs. However, I liked the book with the similar message, The Easter Egg Farm by Mary Jane Auch more.
Profile Image for Vera Godley.
2,025 reviews59 followers
March 6, 2015
Bright! Cheerful! Folksy art! Those were my first impressions of P.Zonka Lays An Egg. Julie Paschkis has an enviable talent for different, folksy, engaging art. When I visited her website, I saw a huge selection of books she has illustrated and they show a artist who excels in her particular style of artistic expression.

In the story of the barn yard filled with chickens, P.Zonka being one of them, we have an unproductive loner, P.Zonka, who just doesn't lay eggs like the other chickens. I guess there is always one in the hen house that is different. That is often the case in society at large - someone might be a bit different. It may be their style of dress, their proclivity for a different type of music (march to their own drummer), or the artist in the group who just sees the world in a different way.

The text for the story flows beautifully as the chickens chastise P.Zonka for not laying an egg. She tries to explain what she has been doing (instead of laying eggs) when she looks at the sky, the sun, the flowers, the grass. Eventually, they get her to "conform" to what all good chickens do and she lays an egg. And oh what an egg!

I absolutely love the combination of story, text, and wildly exuberant illustrations! This is a book to place on your child's home library shelf and one they will want read repeatedly. Because, you see, they will fall in love with P.Zonka and her world of beauty.

NOTE: P.Zonka was born of an ancient Ukrainian tradition, closely associated with Easter. It is the custom of an egg decorating technique called pysanky. Julie Paschkis and her family hold a big party where they decorate eggs every year after the tradition of pysanky. I found it interesting to read about the history egg decorating on Wikipedia. Perhaps you will, too.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy to facilitate this review. Opinions are solely my own. I was not compensated for this review.
Profile Image for Samantha.
4,985 reviews60 followers
March 3, 2015
P. Zonka is a bit of an oddball around the chicken coop. She doesn't lay eggs on a regular basis like the other chickens and when pressured to do so she produces a variety unlike the usual white and brown eggs the other chickens make.

This celebration of Ukrainian decorated eggs perfectly supports the story of a chicken marching to the beat of her own drum. Vibrant watercolor artwork, highly recommended read aloud for PreK-2.
Profile Image for Auburn Library.
136 reviews10 followers
June 21, 2016
This book is a fantastic read-aloud. I read this for storytime today and the whole group enjoyed saying "cockadoodledo" with Gloria. The illustrations are beautiful and I love all the descriptive color words!
Profile Image for Tasha.
4,165 reviews138 followers
April 28, 2015
P. Zonka isn’t like the other chickens on the farm. The other chickens lay eggs each and every day, but P. Zonka never lays a single egg. She’s busy walking around the farm noticing nature and the beauty of flowers and moss. The other hens call her lazy, but she doesn’t pay them any mind. Finally, after they cluck at her for a long time, P. Zonka agrees to try laying an egg. After clucking and delays, she lays an egg that isn’t anything like the brown and white eggs the other hens lay. P. Zonka’s egg is spectacular and shows in colors and design all of the beautiful things she has been seeing in nature. P. Zonka’s eggs are art, pure and simple.

Paschkis takes her inspiration from Ukrainian eggs designed with bright colors and intricate designs. A Ukrainian decorated egg is called a pysanka, giving P. Zonka her unique name. The story is written with the rhythm and structure of a traditional folktale. The complaining hens and rooster create the chorus of the book, the repetitive feature. This more formal structure contrasts wonderfully with P. Zonka’s daydreaming and wandering. Those parts of the book are filled with her descriptive words and the pacing shifts and changes.

Paschkis carries her Ukrainian inspiration directly into the art in the book, filling it with the colors and shapes of traditional art. The bright yellows, deep reds, clear blues and crisp greens echo the traditional art as do the sweeping lines and free flowing plants. Yet this is distinctly modern too with the lines having a looser feel and the animals feeling more life like.

This book is a winning blend of traditional and modern, folktale and new story. Appropriate for ages 4-6.
Profile Image for Annette.
900 reviews20 followers
April 1, 2015
P. ZONKA LAYS AN EGG by Julie Paschkis tells the charming story of a daydreaming chicken who lays a spectacular egg.

The other hens in the chicken yard can’t figure out why their friend spends her time observing the natural world rather than laying eggs, so they’re shocked when one day she lays a beautifully designed, multicolored egg.

Designed for ages 3 through 7, Paschkis’ colorful folk art style inspired by Ukrainian eggs designs will appeal to young readers. The simple, easy-to-understand picture book story focusing on the value of creativity and the beauty of nature will be appreciated by readers of all ages.

The book is a great addition to the library’s collection of Spring and Easter-themed books. Librarians will find the publisher “event kit” useful for promoting the book. Go to http://peachtree-online.com/pdfs/PZon....

To learn more about the Ukrainian egg designs, go to http://www.pysanky.info.

To enjoy the White House Easter Egg Roll, go to https://www.whitehouse.gov/EasterEggR...

To learn more about the author/illustrator, go to http://www.juliepaschkis.com/.

Published by Peachtree Publishers on March 1, 2015.
Profile Image for Katt Hansen.
3,865 reviews111 followers
September 26, 2015
Plot-wise I wasn't impressed - nothing like a bit of peer pressure to conform. Thankfully P. Zonka still insists on doing things her way. Art-wise the book was an absolute delight and I want to make my own eggs like this for Easter. I feel like I want some of those pictures hanging on my wall rather than confined to the pages of a book.
Profile Image for Sandy Brehl.
Author 8 books134 followers
October 9, 2015
The interpretive and colorful double spreads set the stage for P. Zonka's eventual creative production. Not only does this book set-up readers to learn about a cultural tradition, it's humor and validation of "taking time" and expressing one's self authentically are messages needed at any age.
Profile Image for Michael Sedor.
210 reviews5 followers
July 28, 2015
gorgeous art; incomprehensible (slightly offensive, too) story.
Profile Image for Jenny.
275 reviews80 followers
October 5, 2024
Is this actually a book about a (chicken) woman who does not want to have children? And leads a fulfilling life appreciating the beauty of the world without feeling the need to bring her eggs into it? Until she succumbs to peer pressure and produces something beautiful and unique of her own?

Profile Image for Lisa Johnson.
380 reviews9 followers
April 13, 2022
Really enjoyed this book and learning about Pysanka (Ukrainian Easter Egg).
Profile Image for Cat.
285 reviews27 followers
October 11, 2022
Such pretty illustrations & a sweet message. I've sometimes wondered what my chickens do all day, besides eating, and I'd like to think they're as whimsical as P.Zonka, hehe.
Profile Image for Matthew Winner.
103 reviews63 followers
April 6, 2015
Book number four is P. Zonka Lays an Egg by Julie Paschkis and I lost myself a number of times in Julie's watercolors in this book because they are just beautiful beautiful beautiful. This is a book essentially about Russian eggs or, rather, Ukrainian eggs and about a chicken who cannot lay eggs or doesn't want to lay eggs. All of the other chickens are kind of teasing her for it. "Why don't you try it P. Zonka?" "Why don't you at least give it a try?" Well, she tries and what comes out is this beautiful, patterned, decorative egg and it's gorgeous. I love that these eggs are actually called pyzankas, and so Julie has taken that name and created a character from it to let readers know that language better. The colors on this book just pop off of the page and the eyes are drawn right to these great patterns, these swirling lines, these zigzag lines, these juxtaposed colors. It's really… it's a work of art. Julie did a wonderful job on P. Zonka Lays an Egg.

This review appears on an episode of the “Best Book Ever [this week]” segment of the Let’s Get Busy podcast. Check out the original post here: http://lgbpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/0...
Profile Image for Mandy.
625 reviews34 followers
January 1, 2019
A great book to inspire beautiful Easter egg decorating.
10 reviews
Read
November 13, 2015
P. Zonka is the odd chicken out. She spends her days walking around, enjoying the sun, flowers and grass. The earth is beautiful and P. Zonka just enjoys embracing it. The other chickens, Maud, Nadine and Dora are not happy that P. Zonka does lay eggs, while they are laying eggs all the time. They think she is lazy and just a dreamer. They are telling her that she needs to start laying eggs, but she tries to get them to see how beautiful the world is. They don’t listen and tell her to just try to lay an egg. Will P. Zonka finally be able to do it?

I would have the kids take two eggs, the first one I will give them 2 minutes to decorate, then the next I would give them 15 minutes to decorate. When they are done I would have them compare to see which one is better and ask them why the second one is better and how that relates to the story.

Paschkis, J. (2015). P. Zonka lays an egg (p. 29). Atlanta, Georgia: Peachtree.
Profile Image for American Mensa.
943 reviews73 followers
January 13, 2016
P.Zonka lays an egg is about a chicken named P.Zonka who wanders around staring at nature and dreaming and never lays an egg but later ended up laying a spectacular and colorful egg. I liked the egg because it looked exactly like the real world she was living in.
I liked every single picture because they are very interesting and pretty. My favorite picture was when all the chickens were standing outside and Nadine saying “is it a little too much?” at the egg P.Zonka laid. The picture exactly explains that Nadine never saw an egg before like this and she looked very confused, she couldn’t believe because no chicken can lay a colorful egg. And also the illustrations are very creative with lot of patterns in every page.
Kids who like chickens and roosters and love to decorate eggs will love this book. This book is a picture book and a fantasy book.
Review by Shrisha.K, 6, San Diego Mensa
Profile Image for Linda Lipko.
1,904 reviews52 followers
January 22, 2016
Living amid a group of hens and one rooster, whom everyone thought was female until he developed into a male, P. Zonka is an artist among hens. Rather than laying eggs like her companions, she would rather study the sky, the clouds, the blueness of it all, and the green glow of the grass. Seeing life in nature and patterns, P. Zonka is happy.

Yet, being nagged by others can be annoying. When she is goaded into trying to lay just one egg, she does so. And, what an egg it is. It is not white, or brown -- it is multicolored, swirling like the clouds and sky, blue and green like the sky and earth.

Noting an inspiration for this book based on the Ukrainian tradition of pysanky, or the decorating of eggs, the author/illustrator weaves a magical tale of independence, or appreciation of nature and fitting in by following examples, yet, while staying true to oneself.

Highly recommended both for the story and the illustrations.
Profile Image for Alice.
4,307 reviews36 followers
October 6, 2015
Where I want to land on this in the ratings scale...feels very unbalanced. Somethings I really liked and somethings I hated so I guess if some things are a 3.25 and some things are a 1 then 2 is the average?
What I liked, The story of the Ukrainian Egg with its decorations is clever and beautiful. The authors note of the decorating Ukrainian egg neighborhood party is cool
What I did not like ! A boy Rooster named Gloria.
A weird named Chicken that lays a color eggs..weird. The illustrations are fine but I can't say I loved them!

I almost want to say it feels "self published" but sometimes self published can be "I have a great idea but can't convenience the big publisher of it's virtue" or "I am the only one who likes this book so I will publish it. I don't know just running my mouth or my fingers as it were!

Profile Image for Cynthia.
449 reviews
July 16, 2015
P. Zonka is a dreamer. She's also a preoccupied hen -- much too busy to lay eggs. Instead she spends her time observing the beauty around her, noting the colors of the flowers, and admiring the blue of the sky. Her hen peers question her constantly about her refusal to lay eggs. Does P. Zonka give in and do what everyone else does?

This brilliantly illustrated picture book is filled with swirls, curved lines, and vivid flourishes reminiscent of Ukranian decorated eggs. Each two page spread swims beautifully in different pastel shade of yellow, blue, green, or orange. The artwork perfectly personifies the creativity and freedom P. Zonkas enjoys.

A picture book about creativity, being true to self in the face of opposition, and finding beauty in one's surroundings.
Profile Image for Dawn.
1,551 reviews13 followers
April 26, 2015
The artwork is beautiful!!! Seriously if it was a book without words, I think I would like it much more.

What I don't like:
1) An early page (might be the first?) describes how many eggs each hen lays. The first lays one a day, so there is one egg by her. The third lays five a week and there are five eggs by her. Well, then first hen should have seven eggs, not one!
2) The name P. Zonka. Supposed to be a play on pysanka, according to the author note, but "zonka" isn't a name, so it's not clever.
3) The message. Tells kids that the dependable hens that lay eggs when you need them aren't as good as the special hen who pokes around for months then lays a single pretty egg.

I've clearly thought too much about this picture book.
Profile Image for Amanda.
478 reviews48 followers
March 26, 2015
https://guninactone.wordpress.com/201...

This will be a short and sweet review for this sweet and beautiful children’s book. If you’re filling an Easter basket make sure P. Zonka is in it! This book bright and cheerful and the eggs that P. Zonka lays are seriously gorgeous! Babycakes and I loved that P. Zonka is happy just doing her own thing every day. She’s not worried about how many eggs one needs to lay.

Added bonus, I loved the end notes about the Ukrainian origins of the eggs and P. Zonka’s name. You need to read this happy little book!

5 stars!

Thank you Peachtree Publishers for this galley copy!
Profile Image for Heidi.
2,916 reviews67 followers
March 23, 2015
My favorite part of this book is definitely the bright, beautiful, delightfully wondrous and yes, spectacular illustrations. The theme of 'stopping to smell the roses' certainly doesn't hurt anything though. While all the other chickens lay eggs regularly, P. Zonka does not, she prefers to wander the barnyard admiring the sky and the flowers, and the sky. But when the other chickens push her into giving egg-laying a try, the results surpass everyone's expectations. The rooster named Gloria was a nice humorous touch. But my favorite part was still looking at the gorgeous illustrations. Perfect for sharing at Easter or anytime really.
Profile Image for Ms.Gaye.
638 reviews14 followers
April 6, 2015
This hen is a bit like Ferdinand the bull - P. Zonka is more interested in the beauty of the natural world than behaving like the other hens in the barnyard (i.e. laying eggs). Paschikis' latest title is as colorful and energetic as her previous titles, but the artwork is perhaps a bit more stylized and uses more white space than her other works.
It's an enjoyable story - what kid wouldn't want to see chickens lay eggs like these? - but the main character's name, and thus the title, is an unfortunate choice for a picture book. I wonder if the author is passionate about the correct pronunciation of the Unkranian term "pysanka"?
Profile Image for Kate McGinty aka Caryn Caldwell.
434 reviews383 followers
August 2, 2015
While P. Zonka's industrious sisters are busy laying boring eggs on a regular basis, this whimsical hen prefers to wander the yard, taking in all the beautiful details around her. Until she's challenged to lay an egg of her own.

This is a gorgeous book that perfectly captures the idea that some things are worth waiting for -- especially true art. Although it could be tied into many areas of the curriculum, P. Zonka Lays an Egg would work especially well in an art or creative writing lesson, to illustrate that creativity often takes time, preparation, observation, and a lot of daydreaming. Picture book or not, it would make a good mini lesson on inspiration for all ages.
Profile Image for Paula.
Author 2 books252 followers
April 29, 2015
The clear bright watercolors, swooping, looping lines and folkloric patterns of Julie Paschkis' work make her stories feel like heirlooms from an earlier age. This humorous new fable tells the story of an eccentric hen who lays colorful pysanky — Ukrainian decorated eggs made with beeswax and dye. Instructions for how to throw your own pysanky party are featured on the publisher's website.

Reviewed for the Baltimore Sun, March 2015.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/features/...
Profile Image for Sue.
216 reviews6 followers
August 14, 2016
Listed in CCBC Choices 2016 under Picture Books for Babies, Toddlers and Preschoolers. The illustrations in this picture book are exquisite and essential to the story. Peer pressure to lay and egg instead of daydreaming, produces a big surprise. Author's note at the end describes a little about the art of pysanka. the Ukranian egg decorating technique, but sample photos would have been a nice addition. Sweet Spot: Preschoolers
Profile Image for Sherry.
233 reviews3 followers
February 9, 2017
More power to P. Zonka! Not a conformist hen, she spends her days daydreaming, wandering, observing, and admiring the world around her. Absorbing all that beauty, reflected in spectacular folk art illustrations, ultimately results in an egg like no other when P. Zonka does finally decide to produce. Some wonderful messages here about being yourself, celebrating your unique gifts and abilities, and not conforming to peer pressure. I give this one 4.5 stars!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 124 reviews

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