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Egg: Nature's Perfect Package
"Appealing, accessible, and accurate, this is another admirable creation." — Kirkus Crack the code of the incredible egg in this beautifully illustrated nonfiction picture book by Caledcott Honor-winning team Steve Jenkins and Robin Page. Hatching a plan for survival isn’t always easy in the wild. And how animals lay, protect, and even use each other's eggs as a food source help reveal the life cycle of the natural world. Eggs come in all shapes and sizes. The ostrich’s is the largest, but some are so small, you need a microscope to spot them. Animals hide them and disguise them in smart and surprising ways, too. Some abandon their eggs, while others protect them fiercely and carry them wherever they go. There are as many kinds of eggs as there are animals that depend on them, because in the animal kingdom, the fight for survival begins with the simple, but extraordinary, egg.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 3, 2015
6 people are currently reading
303 people want to read
About the author
Steve Jenkins
137 books239 followersSteve was born in 1952 in Hickory, North Carolina. His father, who would become a physics professor and astronomer (and recently his co-author on a book about the Solar System), was in the military and, later, working on science degrees at several different universities. We moved often. Steve lived in North Carolina, Panama, Virginia, Kansas, and Colorado. Wherever he lived, he kept a menagerie of lizards, turtles, spiders, and other animals, collected rocks and fossils, and blew things up in his small chemistry lab.
Because he moved often, Steve didn't have a large group of friends, and he spent a lot of time with books. His parents read to him until he could read himself, and he became an obsessive reader.
His interest in science led me to believe that I'd be a scientist himself. At the last minute, he chose instead to go to art school in North Carolina, where he studied graphic design. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising and design, first in large firms and then with his wife, Robin Page, in their own small graphic design firm. Robin, also an author and illustrator, is his frequent collaborator — they've made sixteen children's books together.
Their daughter Page was born in 1986 and our son, Alec, two years later. They began reading to them when they were just a few months old, and Steve became interested in making children's books himself. My wife and I read to our two older children almost every night until hisdaughter was 12 or 13, long after they were reading on their own. It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.
In 1994 they moved to from New York City to Boulder, Colorado, where they work in a studio attached to their house, which was built in the 1880s and often functions as if it were still the 19th century.
Their youngest son, Jamie, was born in 1998. The questions his children asked over the years have been the inspiration for many of their books.
Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
Because he moved often, Steve didn't have a large group of friends, and he spent a lot of time with books. His parents read to him until he could read himself, and he became an obsessive reader.
His interest in science led me to believe that I'd be a scientist himself. At the last minute, he chose instead to go to art school in North Carolina, where he studied graphic design. After graduation he moved to New York City, where he worked in advertising and design, first in large firms and then with his wife, Robin Page, in their own small graphic design firm. Robin, also an author and illustrator, is his frequent collaborator — they've made sixteen children's books together.
Their daughter Page was born in 1986 and our son, Alec, two years later. They began reading to them when they were just a few months old, and Steve became interested in making children's books himself. My wife and I read to our two older children almost every night until hisdaughter was 12 or 13, long after they were reading on their own. It was, in many ways, the best part of the day.
In 1994 they moved to from New York City to Boulder, Colorado, where they work in a studio attached to their house, which was built in the 1880s and often functions as if it were still the 19th century.
Their youngest son, Jamie, was born in 1998. The questions his children asked over the years have been the inspiration for many of their books.
Librarian's Note: There is more than one author with this name in the Goodreads database.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
April 19, 2017
I think informational texts often get a bad rap for being "boring" or "dry"; however, Steve Jenkins' book "Egg: Nature's Perfect Package" was anything but! At first glance, I was curious what an author might include in a book about eggs, but Jenkins did a nice job of introducing a lot of facts about eggs in eye-catching and interesting ways. Extending beyond the basic anatomy of an egg, this book discusses the not-so-common species that lie eggs, how many species choose a location and time to lie their eggs differently, and the different characteristics of eggs from various species. Since this text was a little lengthy, I might stick with upper elementary grades, specifically grades 4-5. There were lots of words on the pages, but also cool graphics to provide visual aids to the reader.
I think this would be a great text to have students read during independent reading time or to read aloud during science while circulating so students can see the various graphics (you could even place the book on the doc cam so the images on the pages could be projected). Depending on the grade level, this text would be useful for discussing the life cycle in science as well as different text features in literacy, such as diagrams and pictures with captions. It always helps to integrate subjects together if possible!
This book was a WOW! book for me because it totally quashed the "boring" stereotype that surrounds informational texts. After I finished reading this text, I felt like I had learned a lot I didn't know about eggs. I think it would make for great conversation in the classroom since many students only think of birds when they think of eggs and many students think little care is taken when laying eggs. I'm excited to read more of Steve Jenkins' books!
I think this would be a great text to have students read during independent reading time or to read aloud during science while circulating so students can see the various graphics (you could even place the book on the doc cam so the images on the pages could be projected). Depending on the grade level, this text would be useful for discussing the life cycle in science as well as different text features in literacy, such as diagrams and pictures with captions. It always helps to integrate subjects together if possible!
This book was a WOW! book for me because it totally quashed the "boring" stereotype that surrounds informational texts. After I finished reading this text, I felt like I had learned a lot I didn't know about eggs. I think it would make for great conversation in the classroom since many students only think of birds when they think of eggs and many students think little care is taken when laying eggs. I'm excited to read more of Steve Jenkins' books!
March 30, 2015
Egg-cellent!!!
December 13, 2017
All about different types of eggs...their size & shape, where they are laid, how they are incubated or protected, and how they hatch. It examines a wide range of animals and a wide variation in each of these subtopics. My 3rd graders found it really interesting.
April 26, 2018
I have never read a book with Steve Jenkins involved that wasn't an engaging and awe-inspiring work of children's nonfiction. He's a standby for me. This book is no exception. Everytime we look at it, my niece focuses on something new. I highly recommend it.
December 31, 2015
Ah, the wonders of eggs, described here as Nature's perfect package--and rightly so. Engaging informative text and torn- and cut-paper collages walk readers through the intriguing world of the incredible, (for some) edible egg. The book is well designed, with even the introductory text grouped so that it forms a perfect egg shape with its white font style. Some of the eggs included in the book are shown in their actual size, such as the ostrich, the kiwi, and the giant squid, and readers learn interesting facts about the animals that lay eggs as well as where they choose to lay those eggs and how many eggs they typically lay. Since some species delight in dining on eggs, the book also discusses those animals as well as how some eggs are protected and packaged. Probably my favorite section is one devoted to how the eggs are carried; for instance, the male jawfish cannot eat while holding its eggs in its mouth. Books from Steve Jenkins and Robin Page never disappoint readers; even older readers and adults can learn something new from reading their books while youngsters are almost always intrigued by the topics they explore and the way the information is presented--dare I say, the way it is packaged, almost as perfectly as those wonderful eggs that mean new life for the next generation of animals. The many uses for a book like this are obvious, and any science teacher pondering a new book to add to the classroom collection can't go wrong with this engaging title.
January 4, 2016
Everything you ever wanted or needed to know about eggs and the creatures that use this technology. Topics include: egg layers, little eggs/big eggs, where animals lay their eggs, how many eggs animals produce, egg eaters, egg protection, egg packaging, carrying eggs, incubation, getting out of the egg, and a look inside the eggs of an alligator and a chicken.
Cut paper collage artwork is as detailed and realistic as it is artful and breathtakingly beautiful. I learned so much from this book and really value the books this duo creates. Highly recommended for PreK-2+.
Cut paper collage artwork is as detailed and realistic as it is artful and breathtakingly beautiful. I learned so much from this book and really value the books this duo creates. Highly recommended for PreK-2+.
March 23, 2015
Gives information on egg layers, egg size, where they are laid, how many are laid, egg predators, how eggs are protected, packaged, carried, and incubated. Plus, how they get out of the egg. Great presentation and information.
January 3, 2016
Jenkins and Page - a wonderful team! Although I wasn't pulled in with this one as I have been with others of theirs in the past, this is a great addition to their work. A must have for any classroom that hatches eggs in the spring!
July 25, 2016
Awesome facts! All egg information is explained with examples like places to lay eggs and incubation. I especially like the information about the spider wasp and fish tapeworm, and I even shared these facts with my husband as I read.
January 14, 2015
A very cool nonfiction picture book about eggs—what animals lay them, how big they are, how many animals lay, and more. Steve Jenkins' cut-paper illustrations are gorgeous and detailed. Excellent.
July 28, 2015
Another awesome Jenkins read - I've read it a few times now, including with my daughter, and love it for my own knowledge as well as for a great mentor text for research writing.
May 18, 2017
Nature’s Perfect Package: Egg
By Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Copyright: 2015
Genre: Informational, Scientific
Literature Requirement: An Informational Book
*Spoiler Alert* I really liked Egg because it was illustrated by Steve Jenkins who is a great illustrator of children’s informational books. I really liked Steve Jenkins book What do you do with a Tail?, I had an opportunity to work with students while they were reading this book in a cross-categorical classroom. All of the students really loved to read What Do You Do with a Tail?. I love his illustrations because they are really colorful and vibrant. His pictures are also accurately drawn as they would be in real life. For Egg, Steve Jenkins drew an accuracy of the inside of a chicken egg and alligator egg. I also really like how he takes something ,such as a tail or egg, and talks about different aspects for them. In Egg, he talks about how egg protectors and eaters. He uses several different examples to illustrate egg protectors and eaters. I would recommend any of his books to students who are curious about biology or science. I actually was able to use Egg in a real life classroom during Book Week. All of the students really loved this book, and they asked a lot of questions about the book. I would use this book in any classroom, but I would be careful about using this book around younger kids. In the first page of Egg, the author talks about how humans develop from eggs. It became really awkward when one of the students asked me how eggs are formed in the human body. I wasn’t ready to talk about the human reproductive system unprepared, so I managed to brush of the question. However, if you talk to the parents beforehand, I don’t necessarily see any harm in the book. I would recommend this book to students in second grade and up. I am giving this book a five out of five stars because I love how the information is presented and the aurate illustrations in the book.
By Steve Jenkins and Robin Page
Illustrated by Steve Jenkins
Copyright: 2015
Genre: Informational, Scientific
Literature Requirement: An Informational Book
*Spoiler Alert* I really liked Egg because it was illustrated by Steve Jenkins who is a great illustrator of children’s informational books. I really liked Steve Jenkins book What do you do with a Tail?, I had an opportunity to work with students while they were reading this book in a cross-categorical classroom. All of the students really loved to read What Do You Do with a Tail?. I love his illustrations because they are really colorful and vibrant. His pictures are also accurately drawn as they would be in real life. For Egg, Steve Jenkins drew an accuracy of the inside of a chicken egg and alligator egg. I also really like how he takes something ,such as a tail or egg, and talks about different aspects for them. In Egg, he talks about how egg protectors and eaters. He uses several different examples to illustrate egg protectors and eaters. I would recommend any of his books to students who are curious about biology or science. I actually was able to use Egg in a real life classroom during Book Week. All of the students really loved this book, and they asked a lot of questions about the book. I would use this book in any classroom, but I would be careful about using this book around younger kids. In the first page of Egg, the author talks about how humans develop from eggs. It became really awkward when one of the students asked me how eggs are formed in the human body. I wasn’t ready to talk about the human reproductive system unprepared, so I managed to brush of the question. However, if you talk to the parents beforehand, I don’t necessarily see any harm in the book. I would recommend this book to students in second grade and up. I am giving this book a five out of five stars because I love how the information is presented and the aurate illustrations in the book.
November 15, 2018
Egg: Nature's Perfect Package by by Steve Jenkins & Robin Page is a great informational text for students in K-5 to use as a guide to learn about animal survival (adaptations) and life cycle (predator and prey). The book specifically focuses on animals that lay eggs as opposed to eggs laid inside the body like humans. The book is broken up into well thought out sections that explore how eggs differ in shape, size, and color for different reasons. Some animals produce large amount of eggs at once and others only lay a small number of eggs. Where they lay their eggs depends on the animal as well, its habitat, predators, and the level of protection it wants to provide for the egg. Some mothers stay with their eggs others leave. Jenkins and Page help readers compare and contrast different animals eggs and explain how and why the animals lay the eggs they do. They also help readers understand the benefits of eggs on the life cycle by protecting and nurturing the unborn animal. Readers will be able to see to scale pictures of some eggs, and compare what a chicken looks like inside an egg to a crocodile. The book is filled with detailed, accurate, and colorful illustrations throughout.
For classroom instruction the book could be used in tandem with a science unit on the life cycle of animals. Students can pull key vocabulary out, which will help them learn content-specific terms like incubation, predator, microscope, unfamiliar animals etc. Students can then apply these new terms by using them in a written report that compares and contrasts two different animals eggs form the book. This book could also be used as an entryway to an inquiry unit on sea turtles, which lay their eggs on the beach of North Carolina. Students can then learn more about how the eggs develop, their predators, the species endangerment, and what is being done in their home state to help protect the eggs and the sea turtle species.
For classroom instruction the book could be used in tandem with a science unit on the life cycle of animals. Students can pull key vocabulary out, which will help them learn content-specific terms like incubation, predator, microscope, unfamiliar animals etc. Students can then apply these new terms by using them in a written report that compares and contrasts two different animals eggs form the book. This book could also be used as an entryway to an inquiry unit on sea turtles, which lay their eggs on the beach of North Carolina. Students can then learn more about how the eggs develop, their predators, the species endangerment, and what is being done in their home state to help protect the eggs and the sea turtle species.
April 18, 2020
This informational text is all about eggs. It explains the size of eggs, the cycle of the eggs, where the eggs are laid, how many eggs, and more! A cool part about this text is the variety of organisms it talks about. It talks about animals many of us have heard of such as a crow or crab, but it also talks about scorpion fish and extinct dinosaurs. The end of the book has a really cool graphic to show the inside of an egg during development.
An obvious instructional opportunity to use this book for would be life cycles and development. I remember in my 2nd grade class we hatched chicks, and this would have been an awesome book to read to go along with incubating and hatching the eggs! Another cool idea is to talk about predator and prey. When reading instructional texts, it is acceptable to not read the text in order. This would be an example of that because you could just read the pages about "egg eaters" and "egg protection" to talk about the predator-prey relationship.
This is a WOW book because of how in depth it goes. It really covers everything you could wonder about eggs, so I feel like I learned a lot while having fun reading.
An obvious instructional opportunity to use this book for would be life cycles and development. I remember in my 2nd grade class we hatched chicks, and this would have been an awesome book to read to go along with incubating and hatching the eggs! Another cool idea is to talk about predator and prey. When reading instructional texts, it is acceptable to not read the text in order. This would be an example of that because you could just read the pages about "egg eaters" and "egg protection" to talk about the predator-prey relationship.
This is a WOW book because of how in depth it goes. It really covers everything you could wonder about eggs, so I feel like I learned a lot while having fun reading.
August 14, 2022
Egg: Nature's Perfect Package by Steve Jenkins and Robin Page is a nonfiction book about how animals lay their eggs.
During this book it is explained how a number of different animals lay the eggs of their offspring. There are many different diagrams for size reference and explanations on the numbers, locations, and animals that go after the eggs to eat them just to name a few sections of the book. This book is a bit of a info dump with how many different animals and eggs it covers, which isn't inherently a bad thing, however it can be a lot of information to take in at once and can become confusing when trying to pay attention. I do though think that it provides very interesting facts and is a great way for kids to understand how some animals are born into the world and the struggles they must deal with. It's a great book to introduce kids to animal bases sciences. The animal and egg illustrations themselves are something that could keep kids interested in the book alongside the interesting facts. A good science book for children to have on hand.
During this book it is explained how a number of different animals lay the eggs of their offspring. There are many different diagrams for size reference and explanations on the numbers, locations, and animals that go after the eggs to eat them just to name a few sections of the book. This book is a bit of a info dump with how many different animals and eggs it covers, which isn't inherently a bad thing, however it can be a lot of information to take in at once and can become confusing when trying to pay attention. I do though think that it provides very interesting facts and is a great way for kids to understand how some animals are born into the world and the struggles they must deal with. It's a great book to introduce kids to animal bases sciences. The animal and egg illustrations themselves are something that could keep kids interested in the book alongside the interesting facts. A good science book for children to have on hand.
October 10, 2017
This book is very informative about science. The book talks about the importance of eggs, and about how almost every living creature comes from an egg. The book has detailed and colorful illustrations to allows reads a visual understanding about each type of egg. The book discusses the history of eggs, and the specific types of eggs that animals, insects, and others lay or have. The book breaks up the eggs by where eggs are laid, how many eggs animals have or lay, the types of animals that eat eggs, how they protect eggs, how they carry their eggs, incubation, and getting out of an egg. Overall, this is a great resource to teach children about eggs.
October 13, 2017
This book is very informative, and educational about science. Eggs come in a fantastic range of shapes, and sizes. Some eggs are to small to see without a microscope others are enormous. Animals lay their eggs in various spaces such as in the water, tree branches, plants, and leaves. This book breaks up eggs where the eggs are laid, little eggs versus big eggs, how many eggs animals lay, the types of animals that will eat the eggs, egg protection, how they carry their eggs, incubation, and getting out of the egg. In the back of the book there is more information on various animals. This is a great book to teach children all about eggs.
February 21, 2019
Fascinating for curious people of all ages. I love that it includes animals that are commonly seen by likely readers (e.g. mosquito) and those most will probably never encounter (e.g. acorn weevil). The book covers several interesting features of eggs including who lays them, the size, where they are laid, how many are laid, predators and protection, how they are carried or moved, incubation, and hatching. Each page is full of eye-popping collages of over 50 different animals along with specific facts about that animal and its egg(s). A section in the back includes a little more info on each species mentioned in the book and an "Additional reading" list is also included.
March 20, 2018
Because of the illustrations by Steve Jenkins and the style/compiling of the book, it reminds me of the book, "What Do You Do with a Tail Like This?" I loved the colorful and detailed pictures against the basic white background. The media of the cut/torn papers is one of my favorites within children's literature. The book explains how eggs are laid and how they withstand nature, from different animals. I thoroughly enjoyed the little glossary in the closing of the book, this is something I would use in my future classroom as a trade book.
March 31, 2019
This book is extremely fascinating. This book can be used as a great book to introduce students about reproduction. Isn't amazing how all animals start out as eggs? Including humans! This book is for all ages, and a great book to include in a classroom library. It's jam-packed with information, interesting facts, and amazing pictures and illistrations. Steve Jenkins pays great attention to detail.
November 14, 2017
This informational text gives immense detail about eggs and everything about them. The illustrations are torn and cut paper collage and are incredibly beautiful. This book is somewhat wordy so would be better suited for older readers with interest in animals. This book could also be a supplement to a unit about animals and their life cycles, or anything having to do with eggs.
December 5, 2017
Jenkins, S., Page. R. (2015) Egg: Nature's perfect package. Boston, Massachusetts: HMH Books for Young Readers.
This book takes a look at how different animals lay their eggs, protect their eggs and eventually the animals the emerge. My favorite part about this book was how the eggs were in actual sizes, so you could see the biggest eggs in comparison to the smallest ones.
This book takes a look at how different animals lay their eggs, protect their eggs and eventually the animals the emerge. My favorite part about this book was how the eggs were in actual sizes, so you could see the biggest eggs in comparison to the smallest ones.
June 9, 2019
This book would be a great book to use when discussing the biology topic of eggs. It used paper collages to greatly to show all the different things correlated with eggs. This may be a fun book to read before a field trip to a farm. I enjoyed this book for the amount of information it delivered in a more interesting way.
January 3, 2022
Briefly looks at multiple kinds of eggs, what creatures lay them, where they lay them, what the eggs look like and how eggs "work".
A very broad strokes look at eggs, with interesting info and enjoyable drawings (if you wanted actual pictures, you will be disappointed, but I liked the drawings).
No content issues.
September 20, 2017
Amazing topic easily explained to children through the text and illustrations. Covered so many different topics about eggs (size, texture, protection, parental care, interior, predators, etc.) Highly entertaining and informational. Informational book.
October 15, 2017
I think this is the perfect book to teach students about the miracle of life. It is not boring and has great illustrations throughout that really paint a good picture about what Steve Jenkins is explaining.
December 7, 2017
This is another book about different kinds of eggs and how they hatch, what animals have eggs and where they come from, what colors they are how long they take to hatch after they are layed. This is a very good book to bring around when we are learning about the cycle of life.
March 15, 2018
I love this book and will use this in my Nature Lesson. I like that it shows the different types and sizes of eggs for many of our worlds creatures and ways they are protected by their parents. This will be fun to share with my younger readers.
February 2, 2021
Fascinating, informative and endearing, Egg is a celebration of parenting by creatures big and small. The cut paper artwork is beautiful!!! A lovely respite from the stressors of daily life, great for children and adults!
May 23, 2017
nonfiction
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