The Donkey Egg

November 5, 2018
Sisters and frequent collaborators Stevens and Crummel return to the setting of Tops & Bottoms, Stevens’s 1996 Caldecott Honor Book. Bear is still a magnificent creation, a velvety cantankerous slob with a ramshackle farm and perpetually untied wingtips. He’s easy prey for trickster Fox, who convinces Bear to pay $20 for a “donkey egg”—readers will see it’s really a watermelon—that will hatch into a farmhand who can help whip the place into shape. Instructed by Fox to keep the egg “warm, safe, and happy,” even if it takes “minutes, hours, days, weeks, months” to hatch, Bear reveals that he’s actually an old softy. Horton Hatches the Egg may immediately leap to mind, but this story has an appeal all its own, with the easygoing expansiveness of a backcountry raconteur. But the authors can’t leave well enough alone—they punctuate their narrative with “Did You Know?” text boxes that use chirpy factoids to illustrate the passage of time (“It takes about two minutes to brush your teeth!”). It feels like watching a storyteller being continually interrupted by a helicopter parent. Ages 4–7.

December 15, 2018
Bear's wily neighbor Fox produces a gigantic green "donkey egg" and convinces Bear to part with $20 for it.The Stevens sisters delve into the folk tradition for this tale, variants of which appear in such disparate places as Korea and Algeria, creating full personalities for its protagonists along with a satisfying conclusion to the central hoax, turning a practical joke into a win for the dupe. Cameo portraits introduce the main characters, starting with Bear, who "worked hard, but not anymore. Needs motivation." Bear is large, furry, and sleepy; Rabbit's energetic and jumpy; Fox is dapper and sly. Readers will know, as Bear knows, that the huge watermelon is not a donkey egg. But Fox is so persuasive that Bear settles in to help the egg hatch. As Bear sits, warming the egg, rocking it, telling it stories, and playing with it, amusing sidebars calculate seconds in minutes, hours, and days and offer helpful facts ("It takes a spider about an hour to spin a fancy web"; "It takes about a week for a snake to sheds its entire skin"). Bear, who seems to snooze away his days, has a purpose. When disaster--of a sort--strikes, Bear's devotion has sparked his energy, and he is able to act, with his friend Rabbit as cheerleader, turning Fox's shenanigans into a fine treasure. Stevens' nicely detailed illustrations with their exaggerated, cartoon humor emphasize the delightful silliness. That there is no note indicating the story's folk origins is a serious omission, however.The deserts take a while to get there, but boy, are they just. (Picture book. 3-7)

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K-Gr 2-In this follow-up to the Caldecott Honor book Tops & Bottoms, Bear is busy getting tricked again. Fox, knowing that Bear needs help around his farm, offers to sell him a green donkey egg. Bear agrees and sets about keeping the large green orb warm. Time passes and Bear finally realizes his egg is actually a watermelon, but then uses the seeds to help his farm and finally buy his own donkey. Much like its predecessor, Donkey Egg is a hilarious story told in rhyme and a loving tribute to the trickster tale. Sidebars offer interesting "Did You Know?" facts about the different increments of time used in the book, such as the fact that the average person blinks their eye over 1,000 times in an hour. These information bits may be distracting for some readers, but could also make this an interesting addition for STEAM-powered storytimes. Though the storytelling is strong enough to stand on its own, the artwork puts it over the top. Stevens's folksy, traditional style not only adds to the humor at the right moments, but also ensures that the piece will be as timeless as Tops & Bottoms. VERDICT A laugh-out-loud crowd-pleaser perfect for storytime and small group sharing.-Peter Blenski, Greenfield Public Library, WI

Starred review from November 15, 2018
Grades K-2 *Starred Review* Bear and Hare, stars of the Caldecott Honor Book Tops & Bottoms (1995), return in another humorous tale about gullibility. Bear, the oxfords-wearing hero of the story, who would much rather nap in his white Adirondack chair than fix up his ramshackle farm, gets advice from a devious neighbor. Fox convinces Bear he needs a donkey to help spruce up the property and sells him a $20 "donkey egg," which looks a lot like a watermelon. All Bear has to do is keep the egg warm, safe and happy until it hatches. Hare takes a break from another race against tortoise, who can be seen trekking along in the background, to inform Bear that donkeys do not, in fact, come from eggs. Nevertheless, Bear takes his responsibility seriously, so he sits on the egg, reads to it, sings to it, and plays peek-a-boo with it while waiting for the big reveal. The text is mostly dialogue with short rhymes included here and there, and the mixed-media illustrations, packed with funny details, are a joy to explore. What Bear does when his egg finally hatches is classic, and leaves Fox scratching his head in wonder. Interspersed throughout are Did You Know? inserts that explain time increments from a second to a month and what occurs within each. Another winner from this sister team.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)