The Egg

Very good book for kids who love dragons. We read this book many times, and my son still asks for more. The pictures are marvelous.

I was immediately drawn to the beautiful artwork of this book. The cover page was so very descriptive. The illustrations throughout the book are wonderful and very little text is needed to complement the art of the pictures. On the discovery of the egg in the henhouse, George takes the egg to his bedroom to keep it warm and safe until it hatches, reading to the egg all the while. George seems to believe that the egg can hear his words and continues to read to the egg. On hatching George continues to read to the dragon before bed each night after training the dragon during the day in dragonly characteristics. Reading plays an important part in the book, and is a good example to be setting for young people enjoying this book. The storyline and most especially the beautiful illustrations make this a really fantastic book for the young adventurer. All that is needed is an imagination and a sense of adventure to enjoy this book.

Robertson, M.P. The Egg. New York: Phyllis Fogelman, 2001. In The Egg, a little boy named George finds an enormous golden egg in his mother's chicken coop. He takes care of the egg until much to his surprise, it hatches into a dragon! George takes good care of the dragon until one day it leaves to find its own dragon kind. The little boy is sad and misses his good friend but receives a great surprise in the end that helps him deal with the fact that the dragon has to leave. The Egg conveys a breakthrough in modern stereotypes. The big issue in this story that breaks through is the fact that a male character is doing the stereotypical "mothering." Starting at the very beginning of this story, the narrator stresses maternity and nurturing. Most of this is done through text but some through illustration. Most of the action pictures in this story take place on the right side of the page, setting up the anticipation of action on the next page. George finds an egg that a hen has laid, sits on top of, and keeps warm and protected in the hen house. In the full-page spread when George takes the egg inside, he immediately sits on top of it to keep it warm in his bed. In addition, the integral parts of the story, in which the dramatic action takes place between George and the dragon, and is very important for the flow of the story, appears as a full page of color with no white showing. When the author is trying to get a reader to focus on one thought or sentence, which is not as important or outstanding, he puts a small, colorful picture in the middle of a white page in order to draw your attention. George mimics the hen and takes care of the egg like he thinks a good mother would do with her young. The series of four pictures on the next page shows the egg hatching and George being pleasantly surprised that it is a dragon! The first main time in the book when George obviously breaks through a modern stereotype is when the egg hatches, and the dragon says his first word to George: "mommy." This is taken to mean that the dragon wants the boy to be his mother, and George proceeds to take care of him like he thinks mothers do. George has obviously only ever been exposed to the traditional type of female mother figure; therefore these experiences shapes his behavior with the dragon. This is a prime example of how George breaks down traditional stereotypes because he is exhibiting a behavior that he has only learned, but does the job of "mother" so well that the dragon thinks that he is a mother. The narrator comments, "George had never been a mother before, but he knew that it was his motherly duty to teach the dragon dragony ways." Another series of pictures shows and describes how George teaches the dragon to fly, breath fire, help a damsel in distress, and defeat a knight. These lessons are synonymous with the integral and important things for dragons to know, and each one is taught to him by his "mommy." Again, George is "mothering" the dr

George knew something special was about to happen when he found a gigantic egg in his mother's henhouse. He carefully took it back to his room, kept the egg warm and read to it until it hatched. The dragon inside took one look at George and made a sound of happiness. George didn't speak dragon, but he knew the sound meant, "mommy" and he was determined to teach the dragon dragony ways just like any good mother would. They worked on flying and breathing fire, distressing damsels and defeating knights and every night George read his dragon bedtime stories from a book of dragon tales. But soon, George realized that the dragon was sad and lonely and missed being with other dragons..... M P Robertson has written a gentle fantasy of love and friendship that will delight youngsters with it's simple text and beautifully expressive artwork. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, The Egg is a charming bedtime story, full of imagery and colorful detail, kids will want to read again and again and a wonderful addition to all home libraries.

This is a masterpiece. It's a beautifully illustrated fantasy of a young boy who finds a giant egg in his mothers hen house and nurtures it by reading it stories until it hatches into a dragon. The story provides a wonderful example of how boys can be both masculine and nurturing while the pictures have a sort of magical quality similar to that of the Harry Potter series. Destined to become a favorite among young children and parents alike.