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Rocket and Friends
Rocket Finds an Egg
Kids are learning to read with Rocket! The beloved puppy from Tad Hills's
New York Times
bestselling picture books returns in an easy-to-read book that proves every egg has a nest.
Rocket and his friend Bella find an egg! The birds in the meadow don't know whose it is. The egg is too small, too colorless, or too round to be theirs! Will the friends return the egg to its nest? With its simple words, lots of repetition, and bright, colorful illustrations, young readers will love this Step 1 leveled reader about Rocket, which they can ready all by themselves!
Step 1 Readers feature big type and easy words. Rhymes and rhythmic text paired with picture clues help children decode the story. Perfect for early readers of Rocket the Brave and Drop it, Rocket! and children who know the alphabet and are eager to begin reading
Rocket and his friend Bella find an egg! The birds in the meadow don't know whose it is. The egg is too small, too colorless, or too round to be theirs! Will the friends return the egg to its nest? With its simple words, lots of repetition, and bright, colorful illustrations, young readers will love this Step 1 leveled reader about Rocket, which they can ready all by themselves!
Step 1 Readers feature big type and easy words. Rhymes and rhythmic text paired with picture clues help children decode the story. Perfect for early readers of Rocket the Brave and Drop it, Rocket! and children who know the alphabet and are eager to begin reading
Kindle Edition
First published January 11, 2022
1 person is currently reading
27 people want to read
About the author
Tad Hills
62 books126 followers“Whenever I picture myself [as a child],” says Tad Hills, “I am doing art. I spent a lot of time on my own making things, drawing, and painting.” Hills was not consciously trying to become an artist, rather his motives were innocent and pure. “I liked making things,” he says.
As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s done some acting, made jewelry, makes fake teeth for stage productions, dabbled in interior renovation, and illustrated book jackets for adult trade books. But Hills’ break into children’s publishing coincided with his wife Lee’s new position as the art director for Simon and Schuster’s children’s book division. “Lee used to ask me to try illustrating some books she couldn’t find an illustrator for,” Hills says. When Lee moved to Random House to start her own imprint with long-time friend and associate, Ann Schwartz, she encouraged Hills to write his own picture books. “I started with four stories,” says Hills. His break out book, Duck and Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2006) was one of them.
The idea for Duck and Goose started with only a title—The Silly Goose, the Odd Duck and the Good Egg. As Hills developed the story, he realized his egg would have to be rather large to support Duck and Goose so they could hatch it. Hills also had to consider what would hatch out of such a large egg. A dinosaur? An ostrich? Additionally, Hills floated the title by his son’s kindergarten class and was rewarded with blank stares. Hills took the hint and changed his egg to a ball, and changed the title.
“For me, the writing is really difficult. I stare at a blank page for hours,” he says. “When Lee comes home and asks me about my day, I say it was okay. I wrote one sentence. . .But when I’m in the zone, I literally hear the dialogue between [Duck and Goose]. They were telling me what they wanted to say! That is the best feeling. That is when it’s not work. It’s fun!”
Hills paints with water-soluble oil paint on paper, using colored pencils for the last details. Although Hills’ Duck and Goose characters look simple enough, he drew hundreds of ducks and geese before finding a style with which he was comfortable. “The first ones [I drew] were older looking,” he says. “They looked like cigar-smoking tough guys.” Over a matter of months, Hills finally pared down Duck and Goose to their essential elements—circular heads, long rectangular legs, triangular feet, and door-shaped beaks. “When I apply the eyebrow,” he says, “I can express what Duck is feeling.”
As Hills’ two children grow, he finds himself drawn to how kids treat each other. “I didn’t tolerate meanness or injustice as a kid,” he says. In Duck, Duck, Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2007), Hills creates a friendship triangle by introducing a new duck named Thistle. Together Duck, Goose, and Thistle give Hills’ observations a voice and provide several conversation starters for parents and children.
Hills writes from his home in Brooklyn, New York. Some days he doesn’t write at all, but tries to stay receptive to what he’s experiencing. “Most of my ideas come to me when I’m not looking,” he says. “It’s hard to get yourself to a point where ideas are out there and you can grab them.”
from http://www.patriciamnewman.com/hills....
As a graduate of Skidmore College in New York with a degree in art, Hills describes himself as the ultimate freelancer. He’s done some acting, made jewelry, makes fake teeth for stage productions, dabbled in interior renovation, and illustrated book jackets for adult trade books. But Hills’ break into children’s publishing coincided with his wife Lee’s new position as the art director for Simon and Schuster’s children’s book division. “Lee used to ask me to try illustrating some books she couldn’t find an illustrator for,” Hills says. When Lee moved to Random House to start her own imprint with long-time friend and associate, Ann Schwartz, she encouraged Hills to write his own picture books. “I started with four stories,” says Hills. His break out book, Duck and Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2006) was one of them.
The idea for Duck and Goose started with only a title—The Silly Goose, the Odd Duck and the Good Egg. As Hills developed the story, he realized his egg would have to be rather large to support Duck and Goose so they could hatch it. Hills also had to consider what would hatch out of such a large egg. A dinosaur? An ostrich? Additionally, Hills floated the title by his son’s kindergarten class and was rewarded with blank stares. Hills took the hint and changed his egg to a ball, and changed the title.
“For me, the writing is really difficult. I stare at a blank page for hours,” he says. “When Lee comes home and asks me about my day, I say it was okay. I wrote one sentence. . .But when I’m in the zone, I literally hear the dialogue between [Duck and Goose]. They were telling me what they wanted to say! That is the best feeling. That is when it’s not work. It’s fun!”
Hills paints with water-soluble oil paint on paper, using colored pencils for the last details. Although Hills’ Duck and Goose characters look simple enough, he drew hundreds of ducks and geese before finding a style with which he was comfortable. “The first ones [I drew] were older looking,” he says. “They looked like cigar-smoking tough guys.” Over a matter of months, Hills finally pared down Duck and Goose to their essential elements—circular heads, long rectangular legs, triangular feet, and door-shaped beaks. “When I apply the eyebrow,” he says, “I can express what Duck is feeling.”
As Hills’ two children grow, he finds himself drawn to how kids treat each other. “I didn’t tolerate meanness or injustice as a kid,” he says. In Duck, Duck, Goose (Schwartz and Wade, 2007), Hills creates a friendship triangle by introducing a new duck named Thistle. Together Duck, Goose, and Thistle give Hills’ observations a voice and provide several conversation starters for parents and children.
Hills writes from his home in Brooklyn, New York. Some days he doesn’t write at all, but tries to stay receptive to what he’s experiencing. “Most of my ideas come to me when I’m not looking,” he says. “It’s hard to get yourself to a point where ideas are out there and you can grab them.”
from http://www.patriciamnewman.com/hills....
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
May 20, 2022
Fabulous early reader with more engaging characters than typical controlled texts. I loved this whole series for my elementary library!
February 18, 2022
This beginning reader title features everyone's favorite black and white dog, Rocket, star of the original Rocket stories by Tad Hills. While enjoying themselves in the meadow, Rocket and his squirrel friend, Bella, find a small egg. Worried that something might happen to it or someone must be missing it, they take the egg to various animals, including an owl, a duck, and several birds, to see if it belongs to one of them. It doesn't, but someone else sees them carrying the egg and recognizes it as her own. Little ones will have fun visiting all the different animals along with Rocket and Bella and guessing whose egg it is. The repeated use of certain words builds confidence in young readers as they learn to recognize them within the story, and the bright colors in the illustrations add visual appeal to the reading. Most youngsters will want to be just as helpful as Rocket and Bella are.
December 19, 2023
Goodhearted dog Rocket finds a mystery. Playing outdoors with a friend on a lovely spring day, he spots an egg on the grass. What then?
Rocket stops in his tracks. That little white egg is all alone. When he shows his pal Bella, she says:
We have to find its home!"
And thus their detective adventure begins.
A UNIQUE MYSTERY, A MYSTERY THAT IS PROMPTED BY CARING
Bella is a squirrel. Like her pal Rocket, the dog, they will not rest until they return that egg to its rightful home.
Human detectives are famous for wearing out the leather on the soles of their shoes. Fortunately these animals have well padded paws, and an indefatigable spirit for doing a good deed.
PERSONALLY...
This Goodeader found this book tremendously suspenseful, and I learned more than I'd known before about animals's eggs. The happy ending meant a lot to me, though no spoiler from me, no no!
I just loved reading this book. FIVE STARS of gratitude.
Rocket stops in his tracks. That little white egg is all alone. When he shows his pal Bella, she says:
We have to find its home!"
And thus their detective adventure begins.
A UNIQUE MYSTERY, A MYSTERY THAT IS PROMPTED BY CARING
Bella is a squirrel. Like her pal Rocket, the dog, they will not rest until they return that egg to its rightful home.
Human detectives are famous for wearing out the leather on the soles of their shoes. Fortunately these animals have well padded paws, and an indefatigable spirit for doing a good deed.
PERSONALLY...
This Goodeader found this book tremendously suspenseful, and I learned more than I'd known before about animals's eggs. The happy ending meant a lot to me, though no spoiler from me, no no!
I just loved reading this book. FIVE STARS of gratitude.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 12, 2022
Beginning readers will love this book featuring Tad Hills' Rocket, illustrated by Grace Mills, as he searches to find the right nest for this stray egg. Another take on Are You My Mother? that will delight and help fledgling readers. Text by Elle Stephens
June 8, 2022
This is what I want from an early reader: simple concepts that kids will know and be intested in. Shapes, colors, animals, logical relationships.
A dog and a squirrel find an egg. They try to find who it belongs too. They ask every bird they can find, but it's not theirs. So whose is it?
My kids were able to intuit that it might not be a bird egg at all.
A dog and a squirrel find an egg. They try to find who it belongs too. They ask every bird they can find, but it's not theirs. So whose is it?
My kids were able to intuit that it might not be a bird egg at all.
January 19, 2023
It's a popular series, and yet this title still stands out. The high quality of the storyline combined with excellent beginning reader formatting and word choice make it noteworthy. It's challenging to find engaging stories for the earliest of beginning readers, and this one hit all the right marks.
January 12, 2024
While beginning readers don't get the attention they should on Goodreads, sometimes they should. For parents and teachers to use to help kids learn to read. In this story, Rocket the puppy and his friend squirrel find a little white egg and go in search of its owner. Repetitive language ("Is this your egg?") offers confidence building for early readers.
February 10, 2022
Rocket and Bella discover an abandon egg in the park. Rocket and his friend, Bella must find whose egg this belongs too. Young readers will be guessing until the very end to discover who the egg belongs to.
May 7, 2022
When Rocket and Bella find an egg, they take off on a journey to find its home. They are a bit surprised by what they learn. This popular easy reading series will be a good book to put in the hands of young readers.
July 12, 2022
Almost a 4! As always, we really enjoyed the Rocket books by this author. I think he was trying to include a good bit of dialogue though, so there’s a lot of “Bella says,” and “Rocket says,” and that gets a little repetitive.
May 27, 2022
5 stars from a 5 year old, 3 from me. Spoiler: it's a turtle egg!
June 9, 2022
This is an excellent early reader book! The illustrations are so adorable, and the text is easy to follow.
April 25, 2023
Rocket the dog finds an egg and then tries to find where it belongs. preschool and up
September 20, 2023
Rocket and his friends find an egg. They go around asking everyone if the egg is their egg. Finally, they find the mother. Cute little early reader book.
August 5, 2024
Hills Valleys #23
Rocket & Friends #10
Tenth book in the series is an average yarn, with not much in it really, perhaps Rocket needs a rest!
Rocket & Friends #10
Tenth book in the series is an average yarn, with not much in it really, perhaps Rocket needs a rest!
March 10, 2025
The suspense of who’s egg it is 🤌🏼
April 2, 2025
We get to see all sorts of wild animals and some of their eggs as Rocket and his squirrel friend try to find a home for the egg they found. `
April 16, 2025
This one was a little underwhelming. The kids were not impressed with the reveal it's a turtle egg. It did not hold their attention very well, and they were mostly just ready for it to be over.
July 17, 2025
A suspenseful, page-turning mystery.
May 11, 2025
Read with Joseph on 5 Mar 2025.
Read with Cecilia on 2 Apr 2025.
Read with Joseph on 30 Apr
Rocket and Bella find an egg in the meadow. Then they go around acting everyone "Is this your egg?" At the end they finally find the correct mother.
Read with Cecilia on 2 Apr 2025.
Read with Joseph on 30 Apr
Rocket and Bella find an egg in the meadow. Then they go around acting everyone "Is this your egg?" At the end they finally find the correct mother.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews