Beautiful Eggs

by Alice Lindstrom (Illustrator)

Eggs decorated with leaves,
lace, or even string.

Wrap them up in a cloth
and dip them into colourful dye.

Unwrap for a beautiful surprise.

Decorated eggs are found all over the world in many different countries. They are a wonderful celebration of family, culture, and tradition.

Complete with a stencil incorporated into the design, this book will encourage children to create their own beautiful eggs.

A large-format board book for Easter that celebrates traditions of egg-decorating from around the world with exquisite cut-paper illustrations.

Genres: Picture Books, Nonfiction, Childrens, Holiday, Art

20 pages, Board book

Published March 3, 2020

Reviews

[CYIReadBooks (Claire) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book would make a wonderful gift to inspire creativity in a child. With wonderful illustrations and pronunciations of each method, it is both fun and educational at the same time.

The only drawback I see is that I so wanted to see photographs of actual decorated eggs.

Three stars - I liked it.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is absolutely gorgeous! Seven different countries’ egg decorating traditions are featured. And these eggs are intricate and beautiful! There is no author specified, but the text is informative and I love that pronunciation is included. The final page of this board book includes an egg shaped template for kids to trace and then decorate their own. Such a great addition to my Easter library!

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 5 out of 5]

My View:
This book is a great resource for teachers, parents and care givers and is much better treat for your pre-schooler than chocolates at Easter 😊. This board book is easy for little hands to hold and use, the bright, colourful designs are mesmerising… and the narrative is a simple and engaging way to introduce your little ones to the tradition of egg decorating – the book provides examples from around the world.

And what I love best (after the fact this is a perfect Easter gift) is the template at the back that allows your child to draw their own eggs and colour, paint, stamp, glue and decorate to their hearts content. Within minutes of showing this to my grandson we were drawing eggs and gathering up crayons to start decorating. A book that entertains and encourages creativity – what a great find! Published today – check it out.

[Shauna Ludlow Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautifully illustrated, informative board book! The eggs are brightly colored and intricately decorated. It’s fun to learn about other countries’ traditions.

[Scribe Publications]

In this board book, Melbourne-based artist and illustrator Alice Lindstrom uses her stunning cut-paper style of illustration to introduce the tradition of egg decoration across a number of cultures around the world … Beautiful Eggs is a unique and engaging gift idea that celebrates family, art and tradition and will be a cherished addition to any child’s Easter celebrations.
Jacqui Davies, Books+Publishing

Stunning ... a perfect gift and educational craft resource.
Amie Sabadin, Kids’ Book Review

Beautiful ... A book for the whole family.
Child

[Andréa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 STARS. I wanted to love this so much but I was a tad disappointed. The artwork is lovely but I ultimately found it too similar from one spread to the next and wanted more visual distinction for the various regions, especially considering that we have no photographs of the actual eggs (Eastern Europe styles looked very much like those from Mexico or Japan, for example--not just the eggs but the overall style of the people and settings, too). The rhyme scheme also didn't always work for me and, as an adult reader, I really wanted more details. However, I do think this is a very beautiful book worth sharing with young readers to spark creativity in their own egg decorating (love the invitation at the end, complete with cut-out egg to trace), bring a bit of cultural diversity to Easter, and add welcome variety to the board book market which is so saturated with cartoony characters and egg hunts with bunnies.

[Andrés · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a surprising, unusual topic for a book. It is packed with information, and the illustrations are lovely! There are two-page spreads for eggs from each tradition: Ukrainian, Latvian, Czech Republic, Mexican, Japanese, Greek, Slovak. On the left side, the name of the egg is in large bold text, then a descriptor is below, and at the bottom, there is a definition of the egg and phonetic pronunciation. The right page features a lovely image of example eggs and sometimes context. The book has a structure opening to describe its purpose, and an interactive fold-out closing page that allows the reader to trace their own egg for decoration. Readers of all ages could re-read and probably take away something new each time.

[Jessie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each two-page spread is a type of egg. One page includes the name, some short information in large text describing how they're decorated, and then a bit more detail in smaller text at the bottom with where the eggs are from and how their name is pronounced (sometimes when they're made/used). The right side is a colorful collage related to those eggs.

At the end, the reader is encouraged to draw and decorate eggs using the attached egg stencil.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations of eggs from around the world for different holidays and celebrations.

Some dyed from nature; beetroot and leaves.
Some drawn on with ink and beeswax.
Some wrapped in cloth or origami paper.
Some tied with string or wire wrapped for different patterns.
Some filled with confetti and candy.
And some decorated with lace, gems, and flowers.

How will you decorate your egg?

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The art is lovely. Though this is packaged as a board book, it really isn't for babies; instead, it's a beautiful, brief informational book that describes various egg-painting styles and the cultures that they come from.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the stencil that folds out from the back cover, so that the reader can trace and decorate egg shapes.

Shows different types of decorated eggs from around the world.

Nice to read around Easter.

[Shannonmde]

Not quite the Easter book I thought it was when I ordered it?
It is nonfiction, but a board book. It is about eggs, but not Easter.
Took a poll around the youth library staff to decide on it's home. It's a very pretty book, and has some multi-lingual, multi-cultural bits.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

These eggs really are beautiful! Probably not a book that Ella would care about at 11 months but maybe we'll try it for Easter next year.

[Jacki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool book. Relieved to learn I've been pronouncing pysanka correctly.

[Juli Anna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations, but not enough meat.

[Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found in L4B Volume 12.