Two Speckled Eggs

by Jennifer K. Mann, Jennifer K. Mann (Illustrator)

Overview

A birthday party sets the scene in this sweet and relatable story for anyone who’s ever been the odd girl out.

It’s Ginger’s birthday, and she has to invite all the girls in her class to her party, including Lyla Browning. Lyla isn’t like the other girls: she smells like old leaves, doesn’t talk much, and once brought a tarantula to school for show-and-tell. On the day of the party, Lyla is much earlier than everyone else. But even after the others arrive, Ginger’s party doesn’t go quite the way she’d hoped: some of the girls change the rules to the games, and no one likes her silver and gold birthday cake — except Lyla. By the time Lyla gives Ginger her present — a tiny homemade nest with two delicious malted-milk eggs — Ginger begins to wonder: is being different really such a bad thing?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763661687
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	04/22/2014
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jennifer K. Mann was an architect before turning to children’s books full time. Two Speckled Eggs is the first book that she has written and illustrated. She lives on an island near Seattle with her husband, children, cats, dogs, and chickens.

Editorial Reviews

01/27/2014
Ginger doesn’t want weird, nerdy Lyla Browning at her birthday party, but Mom insists she “invite all of the girls in her class—or none of them.” When her guests play fast and loose with her party plans (“Maya and Julia stuck all the tails for Pin the Tail on the Donkey on each other”), and the birthday cake is not a hit, Ginger realizes that Lyla may actually be kind of cool. Certainly, her present is: a handmade bird’s nest worthy of Martha Stewart, with two malted-milk eggs inside. In a nod to geek pride, illustrator Mann (Turkey Tot), in her debut as an author, doesn’t portray Lyla as a needy, sad wallflower—instead, Lyla is entirely self-assured and independent (though she’s also open to making a new friend in Ginger). Mann understands well how peers can disappoint and parties can go wrong, and her scraggly-lined drawings, filled in with washes of soft color and set against white backgrounds, give a strong sense of Ginger’s emotional vulnerability and the unanticipated possibilities offered by Lyla’s friendship. Ages 5–8. Agent: Holly McGhee, Pippin Properties. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

In a nod to geek pride, illustrator Mann, in her debut as an author, doesn’t portray Lyla as a needy, sad wallflower—instead, Lyla is entirely self-assured and independent (though she’s also open to making a new friend in Ginger). Mann understands well how peers can disappoint and parties can go wrong, and her scraggly-lined drawings, filled in with washes of soft color and set against white backgrounds, give a strong sense of Ginger’s emotional vulnerability and the unanticipated possibilities offered by Lyla’s friendship.
—Publishers Weekly

The nicely paced story creates a series of small moments that make Ginger’s emotional shifts seem natural and inevitable. Created with pencil, gouache, and digital collage in a simple style, the expressive illustrations capture awkward, sad, tender, funny, and happy times with equal facility. ... A fine picture book for reading aloud.
—Booklist

Mann’s pencil, gouache and digital collage illustrations keep the focus on the girls, their bright clothes and accessories standing out against the white background. ... Readers may not look at their classmates the same again.
—Kirkus Reviews

Penciled figures keep the facial expressions simple, while the gouache illustrations soften digital collage elements like the playground pavement, the tablecloth, and patterned couch, complementing the expected but sweet and satisfying story.
—School Library Journal

The illustrations, pencil and gouache with a few digital elements and collage-type layering, has a wide airiness, with even the full-bleed scenes gleaming with white space, and spare dot-and-squiggle features turning big balloon kid heads into faces. Lyla gently stands out from the springily colored crowd in her more saturated brown outfit and glasses, underscoring the text’s championing of individuality. ... Young Gingers may benefit from a reminder that when it comes to inclusion, moms know what they’re talking about.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

This is a kindhearted story about unexpected friendships and a celebration of being unique. Through the use of digital collage, pastel colors, and rounded images, Mann’s characters and scenes pop and invite the reader to the birthday party.
—Library Media Connection

'Two Speckled Eggs' gives us the flavor of childhood as we actually live it — that high-tension mix of sweet and the sour, terrific and the terrible. Author-illustrator Jennifer K. Mann conveys all this almost telegraphically in the sparest language, the most off-hand images. ... 'Two Speckled Eggs' is not so much old-fashioned as it is ageless and timeless. ... Mann has made her debut as a writer-and-artist with a genuine picture book classic.
—The Boston Globe

Mann's bright illustrations of cheerful, round-headed girls capture the mayhem of parties and the joy of a new friendship.
—The Seattle Times

From the Publisher

04/01/2014
PreS-Gr 2—Ginger's mom tells her to invite all the girls in her class to her birthday party or none of them. Reluctantly, Ginger consents, even though it means that oddball Lyla Browning, who smells like old leaves and brings a tarantula to show-and-tell, will be in attendance. As it turns out, the other girls play games by different rules, and Ginger's favorite cake flavor—pineapple and coconut—proves to be far less than a hit. Lyla is the only guest whose preferences and sensibilities mesh with those of the hostess, and a gift of two malted-milk eggs in a homemade nest marks the beginning of a true friendship. Penciled figures keep the facial expressions simple, while the gouache illustrations soften digital collage elements like the playground pavement, the tablecloth, and patterned couch, complementing the expected but sweet and satisfying story.—Joanna K. Fabicon, Los Angeles Public Library

School Library Journal

2014-02-05
Two opposites may not be as opposite as they imagined in Mann's look at grade school cliques and oddballs. Ginger wants to invite all the girls in her class but Lyla Browning to her birthday party. Lyla wears drab clothes and glasses, and her affection for insects (not to mention pet tarantula) is certainly unpopular among Ginger's crowd of friends. But Ginger's mom says it's all or none, so Lyla's invited too. But Ginger's friends turn out not to be the best party guests, doing whatever they want and ruining the games. At this point, Lyla is just part of the background with her ever-present magnifying glass. But that changes when she is the only one to appreciate the much-anticipated "silver-and-gold cake." And Lyla's present turns out to be the most thoughtful of all—a handmade bird's nest with two speckled malted-milk eggs in the center (two peas in a pod, anyone?)—and the start of a lasting friendship. Mann's pencil, gouache and digital collage illustrations keep the focus on the girls, their bright clothes and accessories standing out against the white background. The placement of characters in page composition plays a large part in getting Mann's message across, girls either center stage or relegated to the background (if they're even on the page at all!). Readers may not look at their classmates the same again. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews