The Donkey Egg

by Janet Stevens, Janet Stevens (Illustrator), Susan Stevens Crummel

Overview

Featuring Bear and Hare from their Caldecott-Honor winning Tops & Bottoms, the Stevens sisters celebrate perseverance and teamwork in this laugh-out-loud story of triumph over trickery.

Bear would rather sleep all day than work on his farm, and Fox knows just the kind of help he needs—a donkey! When Fox tricks Bear into buying a donkey egg, Bear can't wait for it to hatch so he can meet his new friend. But donkeys don't come from eggs! And when the "egg" finally opens, Bear gets a fruity surprise. Luckily, Bear doesn't have to face disappointment alone . . . Hare is there to help!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547327679
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/19/2019
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	418,021
Product dimensions:	9.60(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD490L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Janet Stevens is the author and illustrator of many beloved picture books, including Tops & Bottoms, a Caldecott Honor Book. With her sister and co-author, Susan Stevens Crummel, she created the acclaimed best-sellers The Great Fuzz Frenzy,Help Me, Mr. Mutt!, The Little Red Pen and more. She is also the illustrator of the Epossumondas books, written by renowned storyteller Coleen Salley. Janet Stevens lives in Colorado. Visit her online at janetstevens.com.

Janet Stevens is the author and illustrator of many beloved picture books, including Tops & Bottoms, a Caldecott Honor Book. With her sister and co-author, Susan Stevens Crummel, she created the acclaimed best-sellers The Great Fuzz Frenzy,Help Me, Mr. Mutt!, The Little Red Pen and more. She is also the illustrator of the Epossumondas books, written by renowned storyteller Coleen Salley. Janet Stevens lives in Colorado. Visit her online at janetstevens.com.

Susan Stevens Crummel has collaborated with Janet Stevens, her sister, on several picture books, including The Little Red Pen, The Great Fuzz Frenzy; Texas Bluebonnet winners Cook-a-Doodle-Doo!, Help Me, Mr. Mutt!; and the Texas Bluebonnet nominee And The Dish Ran Away with the Spoon. A former teacher, she now writes children's books and makes author appearances at schools full-time. She lives in Fort Worth, Texas. Visit her online at susanscrummel.com.
 

Editorial Reviews

11/05/2018
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. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

"A laugh-out-loud crowd-pleaser perfect for storytime and small group sharing." –School Library Journal, STARRED review "Another winner from this sister team."–Booklist, STARRED review "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."–Publishers Weekly "Stevens' nicely detailed illustrations with their exaggerated, cartoon humor emphasize the delightful silliness."–Kirkus —

From the Publisher

Winter 2018

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

School Library Journal

2018-11-26

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)

Kirkus Reviews