Tillie Lays An Egg

by Terry Blonder Golson, Ben Fink (Illustrator)

Hilarious photos and simple, earnest text introduce us to the head of the Tillie is a REAL chicken, and a very adventurous one, at that!

Unlike the other hens at Little Pond Farm, Tillie isn't one to wait her turn to lay her eggs. And she's certainly not one to stay cooped up all day. Off she goes!

Author Terry Golson and photographer Ben Fink invite you to join Tillie on her first eggs-straordinary adventure. Come along as she explores the cozy world of Little Pond Farm -- and lays her eggs in the unlikeliest of places!

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Childrens, Storytime

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Terry Golson is a professional chef, cooking instructor, and author of For Goodness' Sake (a James Beard Award cookbook nominee), 1,000 Lowfat Recipes, Wholehearted Cooking, and a children's book, Tillie Lays an Egg. Terry has kept a flock of hens in her backyard for more than 17 years. She shares her chickens and chicken knowledge through her website, livestreaming cameras, and blog at HenCam.com. She and her chickens have appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and have been featured in numerous magazine and newspaper articles, including Backyard Chickens Magazine, Hobby Farms Magazines and Chickens Magazine.

Reviews

[Rebekah Barcelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tillie the hen doesn’t like to wait her turn for the nesting boxes, so she chooses other places around the farm to lay her eggs — including inside the farmhouse! A super simple but fun “Where’s Waldo” type book, with real-life photos, where you get search each page to see where Tillie has laid her egg this time. 🐓🥚

Ages 2-3+

[Jennifer Hess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Toddler G loves this book. We are adding it to our personal library. The real pictures of these fabulous ladies are wonderful. It is hard not to love hens with names like Edwina, Tillie and Ginger! Love the find the egg featured throughout the story as independent Tillie lays her eggs and ventures beyond the coop.

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. It was kind of like an I-Spy book. I loved the story and looking for the egg. Very cute. I can see why children would love this one. It is very colorful, the photography is awesome. It is nice to see different mediums used to illustrate children's books.

[N · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since urban farming is all the rage, more and more children are having experiences with actual fowl. But even if the only place you've ever seen a chicken is on the dinner table, you'll get a kick out of "finding the egg" within the vivid photographs that illustrate this charming picture book.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be honest, I didn't really love this book....BUT my kids really really loved it, finding the eggs in each photo, etc. So an extra star for getting numerous extra requests.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the photographs and the hide and seek within the story. I'm hoping the story time kids like it as much as I do.

[Brandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cute little book. My kids love it bc there are chickens that look just like ours. Tillie looks just like our matriarch Frankie.

[Meredith · Rating 4 out of 5]

The kids really enjoyed this one. They very much liked trying to find the egg on each page.

[Darla · Rating 5 out of 5]

No fake chicken in this engaging picture book. The author has recruited her seven chickens to star in this real-life picture book with a real-life setting on Little Pond Farm. Tillie is the one chicken who prefers to lay her eggs while wandering around the farm. Readers have the fun of examining each photo to find where Tillie laid her egg for the day. The text is winsome and the photos are gorgeous (by Ben Fink). I discovered this book several years ago while gathering "chicken" books for a Kindergarten class. Have pulled it off the shelf every year since. I love it more with each reading. Tillie is a treasure! 🐔

[Logan Phillips · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book did not have a lot of sustenance to it which is why I rated it lower. It would be a fun book to have in a waiting room, but I don't see it having much of a purpose in a classroom. It seems as if it was designed for younger students to practice their scanning abilities; however, it is not a book to read aloud.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tillie doesn't want to wait for a nesting box to be available, so she explores the farm and lays eggs where she wants. Lovely photographs show a variety of chicken breeds in a realistic setting, and the game of finding the wayward eggs adds anther layer ("layer!") of interest.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cute and the kids loved it.

[Kristen Thorp · Rating 4 out of 5]

140/365

[Nichole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. Part story, part search and find. Nice personality and voice.

[Krislyn]

This is an Informative book about chickens. I read an online version, and the reader was a lot of fun. This was a lot of fun to read!

[Kelly Chester · Rating 5 out of 5]

Super cute book love the pictures

[ChesLea · Rating 5 out of 5]

found this childhood RELIC in my basement.

[Lauren Mocny-Branum · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tillie Lays An Egg written by Terry Golson with photography by Ben Fink, is a part I-Spy and part photographic essay about a determined chicken named Tillie who does things her own way. Throughout following a week in the life of Tillie we are exposed to what chickens do, what chickens eat, where they live, and the vocabulary that is used to describe these things. The vivid photographs used make this book special. I am recommending this book because of these photographs and the usefulness they have in aiding student’s learning about chickens, our world, and having a good little story to go along with it. The photographs take place in a real henhouse, with hens in their nesting boxes, in a real backyard. This look at hens in their habitat involve close-ups of their faces that are crisp and clear, movement shots, and group shots. Children will also enjoy trying to spot Tillie's eggs in each photograph. Because this is part I-Spy book, I think it’s best for younger grades K-2. The back cover includes photographs of each of the 7 hens found in the book with their name. This book fosters the development of the processes of observation, prediction, and making inferences. There are several points where the teacher could ask students to make inferences or predictions about the photographs before reading aloud the text (“Why is Tillie not outside in the rain? Why do the other hens take turns?”). Since the book gives exposure to new vocabulary words (nesting boxes, hen house) and has photographs to support these words, the students can use context clues and make inferences on the meaning and use of these new words. The author set up a live "HenCam" that is on 24 hours and can be accessed on her website. The HenCam also has audio. (HenCam.com) This encourages children to observe, infer, and make predictions about the hens and would be a great component if studying or doing a unit on hens, showing where our food comes from, or comparison with other animals and their life cycles.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tillie is a hen who doesn't lay her eggs in the nesting boxes provided for the hens. The other hens nicely take turns laying their eggs and then head outside. Tillie doesn't wait for her turn, but instead finds interesting spots to lay her eggs. She wants to eat worms, so an egg is laid in the dirt. Then she ventures onto the farmhouse porch and from there into the house, each day exploring more and laying her egg in a different spot.

Vivid photography makes this book special. From the shots of the hens in their house to the quizzical close-ups of their faces, the photos are crisp, clear and vibrant. The photos also have a timelessness that really works with the farm tale. Additionally, children will enjoy trying to spot Tillie's eggs in each setting. Golson captures a sense of lightness and fun in her brief text that reads aloud very well.

The combination of a silly chicken and missing eggs is made modern and interesting by using photographs rather than illustrations. Great fun for the youngest readers, this book is appropriate for ages 2-5.

[Arminzerella · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tillie the hen doesn't want to wait to lay her egg in the shared nest boxes inside the hen house, so she finds other places. Readers are encouraged (in the text) to find Tillie's eggs in each scene (a little bit like Jean Marzollo's I Spy books, except just one egg, and not so many things cluttered around it). The photographs are excellent - I particularly liked the ones on the end papers of all the hens, and the one on the back flap of the cover that shows a very petite Tillie perched on her author/owner's shoulder.

[Ina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book. Beautiful photographs follow Tillie and the six other hens behind the big white house through a week of egg laying. Six of the hens, live orderly lives. They scratch for corn and lay their eggs taking turns in one of the three nesting boxes. Tillie, however, is different. She prefers to hunt for worms for her meals and lays her eggs in a variety of places as she explores her world. Each well composed photograph from different locations around the farm contains one of Tillie's eggs and my story time audience had great fun spotting the egg in each picture.

[Terry]

This book was educational yet fun. There are several layers to the book. You can enjoy the story and the seek-and-find elements, or you can expand your reading by talking about the different parts of the farm. I was surprised at how much my daughter enjoyed it. She even laughed a few times at the places the hen laid the eggs.

To read our full review, go to the Reading Tub.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tillie lays an egg is simliar to the Minerva Louise books by Janet Stoeke, but is fun it its own way with vivid photographs of the lovely chickens.

There are seven chickens in the henhouse, but only Tillie is not interested in eating corn or laying eggs in a nest. Tillie is an adventurer, always exploring and looking for worms. She lays her eggs is amazing places! Children must search the pictures to find the eggs left in funny and unusual situations.

Recommended for 2-4 year olds.

[Ashley Correll · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really cute! its about a hen named Tillie who lays her eggs anywhere, but the nest like the other hens do. Also, she eats worms instead of corn. The pics in this book are really great considereing its a non-fiction book. Also, the really great part about this book is when your done you can view Tillie live on the farm webcam by going to: http://www.hencam.com

[Shellee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great story about seven chickens, all with wonderful names like Prudence and Edwina. While six chickens hang out together and lay eggs. They lay their eggs using the nesting boxes. Tillie is not like the rest, she likes to explore. She's always laying her eggs in the strangest places. It's a scavenger hunt to find out where they are.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tille, unlike the other six chickens on her farm, does not want to stay inside and lay her egg in the nesxting box. instead his wanders the farm and lays eggs in unusual spots. Children will enjoy searching the crisp photographs to find where Tille laid her egg. Great for one on one. I wish this could be made into a big book format so it could be used with groups. For ages 3 to 5.

[Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great photographs depict Tillie tromping through the farm laying her eggs in unusual places while all the other chickens are laying theirs in the egg boxes. It has an aspect of "Where's Waldo?" as on each page you get to search for Tillie's egg.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a glorious book for fans of chickens! Using the author's own chickens and her amazing chicken item collection she creates a real and fun story about the hens laying eggs and exploring. The photos are wonderful and the props used are awesome.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story about a chicken who doesn't lay her eggs in typical places. Children will want to find the egg in the photographs, which are of real chickens on the author's farm. Read aloud to 3s and they enjoyed it.

[Relyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a fun, witty book. It's a bit young for my child or my students, but still a great read. I love that it told a typical children's story, but used actual photos of the author's chickens to illustrate the story. I think this would appeal to children quite a bit.