Ten books about eggs and the animals that hatch from them! Discover some of the baby animals that begin their life in an egg. These egg stories show us that it is more than just birds who come from eggs.
Ten Egg Stories
1. An Extraordinary Egg by Leo Lionni —
In this book three frogs discover an egg. The frogs believe they have found a chicken egg, so when the egg hatches and a green, scaly animal emerges, the frogs call it a chicken. Your preschooler will laugh at this case of mistaken identity! Leo Lionni is not only a great storyteller, but his illustrations are also fantastic. Preschoolers will love the reunion between mommy alligator and baby alligator, or mommy and baby chickens as the frog say!
2. The Good Egg by Jory John–
Self-described good egg, Shel, is nice and kind to others. He is constantly trying to reign in the “bad eggs.” After a numerous attempts change the other eggs’ behavior, Shel begins to crack up from the stress. He needs some self-care and quiet. He goes on a healing journey of self-discovery, where he realizes that no one is perfect and that he really doesn’t need to police other eggs’ behaviors. Shel returns home with a new, positive outlook toward his friends and a responsibility to take care of himself. The silly pictures lighten the deep message to make this book an enjoyable read for both parents and kids.
3. The Great Eggscape by Jory John —
My preschooler loved this book! We ended up buying it because he wanted to read it so much. This book is the sequel to The Good Egg, and tells about the great adventure all of the eggs go on. While not an outright Easter story, the eggs do dye their shells in an assortment of colors. The eggs hide throughout the store and wait for Shel to find them. A hilarious egg hunt ensues as Shel searches for his friends. He finds all but one! Meg is missing. The friends have to work together to find their missing friend and complete their dozen.
4. Egg by Kevin Henkes —
There are four little eggs: a pink egg, a yellow egg, a blue egg, and a green egg. This sparely worded book tells the story of these little eggs. All but the green egg hatch. The baby birds are curious about the green egg. They peck and peck and peck at the egg. Finally the egg hatches and you will be shocked to see who is inside! Take a look at this sweet book about acceptance and friendship with your preschooler and find out who is in the green egg. This book is a great introduction to graphic novels, where there are few words and the storyline is largely dependent on the illustrations.
5. Little Dragon by Rhiannon Fielding —
Did you know that dragons lay eggs? In this dragon bedtime story, Flicker and his sister, Flame, have 10 minutes until bed. These little dragons take to the sky and zoom all over the place. Along the way they discover a lost egg. With only minutes until bedtime, Flicker carries the egg back to its mommy. They made it just in time too, as the egg is beginning to hatch! Flicker gets to watch the baby dragon hatch before returning home just as his 10 minutes are up. Preschoolers will love this rhyming dragon tale!
6. Hurry! Hurry! by Eve Bunting —
Rooster is so excited that his baby chick is about hatch! He goes running through the farm years yelling, “Hurry! Hurry!” so that all of the animals will be able to witness the birth. The farm animals are quick to comply and everyone makes to the barn in time to see the baby chick pecking it’s way out of the egg. This book only has 2 words per page and relies heavily on the pictures to help convey the urgency. Preschoolers will get caught up in the excitement of the new baby coming.
7. Ollie by Oliver Dunrea–
Gossie and Gertie can’t wait for Ollie to hatch! They grow more and more impatient, but Ollie just won’t come out! Preschoolers will sympathize with the two little goslings who are finding it really hard to be patient. Gossie and Gertie try to help Ollie along by sitting on the egg and pecking at the egg. Ollie and his egg end up on an adventure in attempt to get away from the little goslings. Will Ollie ever come out of his egg? Read this one and find out!
8. The Emperor’s Egg by Martin Jenkins–
Like all birds, penguins also hatch from eggs. Can you believe that an egg can survive in the cold of Antarctica? Read this egg story and learn how the daddy emperor penguin protects its egg.
9. The Noisy Egg by Judith Nicholls–
This rhyming book tells the story of a happy mother duck who builds a nest, lays her eggs, and waits for them to hatch. One day, she hears noises coming from an egg! There’s some tapping and cracking, but no quacking. Then a beak pokes through and finally a face. The first ducking is here and is soon followed by the others. A short and sweet look at the hatching process presented at a preschool level.
10. Who is in the Egg? by Alexandra Milton–
Take a look at all these different kids of eggs. Can you guess what kind of babies are inside? Is it a bird or a turtle or a frog? The authors gives lots of context clues to figure what kind of animals are in the eggs. A fun way to learn about animals!
Check your library for these and other egg stories. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading:)
Egg Crafts
Hatching Chick — make a fun, movable hatching chick craft from a paper plate!
Torn Paper Nest — make a bird’s nest out of construction paper.
Mosaic Egg — use scraps of construction paper to create a beautiful mosaic egg.
