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Ergo
The creative team behind I Am Henry Finch offers a picture book Plato for little ones, as Ergo the chick, from inside her egg, contemplates the world--and her place in it.
Ergo wakes up and sets off to explore the world. The first things she discovers are her toes. Wiggle, wiggle. Then she finds her wings. Flap, flap. Then her beak. And her legs. She has discovered everything! I am the world and the world is me, she thinks. Until she considers the wall around her. Is that part of her, too? And is that noise from beyond the wall . . . something else? At once humorous and inspirational, this lighthearted foray by Alexis Deacon and Viviane Schwarz is for dreamers and philosophers, the foolish and the enlightened--a picture book experience told with simplicity and style.
Ergo wakes up and sets off to explore the world. The first things she discovers are her toes. Wiggle, wiggle. Then she finds her wings. Flap, flap. Then her beak. And her legs. She has discovered everything! I am the world and the world is me, she thinks. Until she considers the wall around her. Is that part of her, too? And is that noise from beyond the wall . . . something else? At once humorous and inspirational, this lighthearted foray by Alexis Deacon and Viviane Schwarz is for dreamers and philosophers, the foolish and the enlightened--a picture book experience told with simplicity and style.
40 pages, Hardcover
Published July 26, 2021
93 people want to read
About the author
Alexis Deacon
24 books78 followersAlexis Deacon is an acclaimed author and illustrator. Beegu and Jitterbug Jam, both of which he illustrated, were named as New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Books of the Year. He lives in London.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
June 2, 2021
What is your greatest illogical fear? I’ll tell you mine, if you like. It’s the idea of being trapped in your own head forever. Perfectly happy. Perfectly content. Perfectly trapped. I don’t know why this idea bothers me so much. It’s probably why I try not to play too many video games in a given week, and why I like gardens and walks and the proof that comes with leaving your house and seeing that there’s a great big, wide, wonderful world out there beyond my cozy four walls. Of course, for some kids, those cozy four walls offered a lot of solace during the height of the pandemic. Predictably we’re seeing a fair number of picture books comforting them, perhaps a touch too late in some cases. What we’re not seeing is a host of books telling them that outside their doors the world isn’t always scary. It can be beautiful and strange and full of people they might actually like. And Ergo by Alexis Deacon and Viviane Schwarz can be that book, if you like. But don’t limit its use. The true beauty of Ergo is that it’s so much more. It’s a treatise on philosophy as it relates to young children. It’s about escaping the confines of yourself and reaching out to others. And, most importantly, it’s a cute baby chicken picture book where 95% of the action takes place inside an egg. Can’t forget that last one.
When Ergo awakes, the first thing she decides to do is explore the world. This means finding her toes ("WOW. GREAT START") her wings, her beak, and her legs. The conclusion to all this discovery is obvious. She must be the world. That's a fun thought, even when she notices the wall that surrounds her. All is well... until she hears something go "BUMP!" And that bump was NOT from inside the egg. Will Ergo discover a world beyond her shell? Will she have the courage? Will she succeed? You betcha.
It’s a lot of fun to compare this book to a previous Deacon/Schwarz collaboration by the name of A Place to Call Home. Like this story, it involved young creatures, unfamiliar with the wider world, blind to what’s around them. Like this story they exhibit courage to face the unknown, and in the end discover that they’ve been seeing only a smidgen of what the world truly is. Mr. Deacon appears to be quite enamored of this theme, and why not? We live in an era where we can exist in our own little echo chambers for as long as we like. The world is vast, but we can make it feel small and manageable with the help of our devices. Yet there is such a benefit in being reminded that the world is bigger than anything we might be able to wrap our heads around. Every time I fly across America, or even just drive half an hour through a couple different towns, I am floored by the reminder that the world is chock full of people that I’ll never meet. Tons of them. And if Ergo isn’t afraid to seek others out, why should I be? That’s the lesson your kids are taking away from this book.
The press for Ergo calls it “a picture book Plato”, which is probably just about the most dead on press material I’ve read in a very long time. Precisely! Ergo is essentially staring at shadows on cave walls. There is a particularly keen moment in this book where Ergo feels a bump, realizes that there is something outside her egg, then discovers that when she tries to imagine it, all she can do is picture different combinations of toes, wings, beaks and legs. She literally has nothing else to call upon to imagine a world beyond her shell. I love the limitations of this (and Schwarz goes above and beyond the call of duty in creating expressionist-worthy paintings of these awkward imaginings). Even when she thinks of other chickens in other eggs, they’re just different versions of her.
Which brings me to Ms. Schwarz herself. Now for a picture book to truly work it must be a collaboration between the story/text and the art. Mr. Deacon’s text is fantastic. Ms. Schwarz’s art, however, elevates it. Her Ergo is remarkably simple. Most of the time it’s just big googly eyes, and black ink on yellow/yellow-orange watercolors. Those watercolors have to portray this little chick as fuzzy, but sometimes they’re also subtle indicators of mood. The orange can be concentration or determination, depending on the situation. And because no two Ergos are ever the same, you get this marvelous multitude of variety within some pretty strict confines (in every sense of the term). Blue dotted lines indicate action, and you get the rare green when Ergo’s egg has been rolling a bit too much, but otherwise this book belongs heartily to the oranges and yellows and Ms. Schwarz’s keen ability to wield both at the right time in the right way.
An ode, now, to typography. I don’t tend to notice it except when it is bad. This is typography’s curse. It’s like air quality. The worse it is, the more you notice it. There are exceptions, and in this particular case Ergo, the book, is so simple that you’re more prone to discovering the book's type than you might in other titles. Consider the fact that for most of the storyline the main character is relegated to an egg. To make this book visually splendid, therefore, would be a bit of a challenge for Ms. Viviane Schwarz. But Ms. Viviane Schwarz appears to be a woman that relishes a challenge. Put yourself in her shoes. Let us say that you are the artist for this book. You now must illustrate the sentence, “Then something went BUMP!” What do you do? If you are Ms. Schwarz, you rely on your old friend typography to do a bit of the heavy lifting. On the left-hand page is the sentence. The “BUMP!” is approximately 5 ½ times larger than the rest of the words. It commands attention. On the opposite page sits Ergo, in her shell, looking at the reader with the world’s most perfect expression on her face. One pupil is juuuuuuuust a little bit larger than the other. Something about that combination makes me inordinately happy. I can’t explain it. All that I can say is that this two-page spread is what happens with art and text work together in perfect tandem. It’s what every picture book should aspire to achieve.
Part of the joy of the book is that it can be read a multitude of different ways. When Ergo thinks of herself as “the world”, how different is that, really, from those very small children that truly do believe that the world revolves around them? You can read it on a philosophical level (the book is dedicated, on Schwarz’s part, “To all the children asking their first big questions”). It is not a big step from this to asking kids whether or not they think their own world is just an “egg”, so to speak. And while I don’t think that Ergo was written to be a response to the last year or two, boy does it fit the times in which we live. From our online social media keeping us tucked safe and sound in our own comfortable shells, to the relative safety that comes from not leaving your shell, there’s a lot to love. I can’t be the only person staring out my window, just itching to peck my way out and into that beautiful big world out there. Ergo is the proof.
For ages 3-6.
When Ergo awakes, the first thing she decides to do is explore the world. This means finding her toes ("WOW. GREAT START") her wings, her beak, and her legs. The conclusion to all this discovery is obvious. She must be the world. That's a fun thought, even when she notices the wall that surrounds her. All is well... until she hears something go "BUMP!" And that bump was NOT from inside the egg. Will Ergo discover a world beyond her shell? Will she have the courage? Will she succeed? You betcha.
It’s a lot of fun to compare this book to a previous Deacon/Schwarz collaboration by the name of A Place to Call Home. Like this story, it involved young creatures, unfamiliar with the wider world, blind to what’s around them. Like this story they exhibit courage to face the unknown, and in the end discover that they’ve been seeing only a smidgen of what the world truly is. Mr. Deacon appears to be quite enamored of this theme, and why not? We live in an era where we can exist in our own little echo chambers for as long as we like. The world is vast, but we can make it feel small and manageable with the help of our devices. Yet there is such a benefit in being reminded that the world is bigger than anything we might be able to wrap our heads around. Every time I fly across America, or even just drive half an hour through a couple different towns, I am floored by the reminder that the world is chock full of people that I’ll never meet. Tons of them. And if Ergo isn’t afraid to seek others out, why should I be? That’s the lesson your kids are taking away from this book.
The press for Ergo calls it “a picture book Plato”, which is probably just about the most dead on press material I’ve read in a very long time. Precisely! Ergo is essentially staring at shadows on cave walls. There is a particularly keen moment in this book where Ergo feels a bump, realizes that there is something outside her egg, then discovers that when she tries to imagine it, all she can do is picture different combinations of toes, wings, beaks and legs. She literally has nothing else to call upon to imagine a world beyond her shell. I love the limitations of this (and Schwarz goes above and beyond the call of duty in creating expressionist-worthy paintings of these awkward imaginings). Even when she thinks of other chickens in other eggs, they’re just different versions of her.
Which brings me to Ms. Schwarz herself. Now for a picture book to truly work it must be a collaboration between the story/text and the art. Mr. Deacon’s text is fantastic. Ms. Schwarz’s art, however, elevates it. Her Ergo is remarkably simple. Most of the time it’s just big googly eyes, and black ink on yellow/yellow-orange watercolors. Those watercolors have to portray this little chick as fuzzy, but sometimes they’re also subtle indicators of mood. The orange can be concentration or determination, depending on the situation. And because no two Ergos are ever the same, you get this marvelous multitude of variety within some pretty strict confines (in every sense of the term). Blue dotted lines indicate action, and you get the rare green when Ergo’s egg has been rolling a bit too much, but otherwise this book belongs heartily to the oranges and yellows and Ms. Schwarz’s keen ability to wield both at the right time in the right way.
An ode, now, to typography. I don’t tend to notice it except when it is bad. This is typography’s curse. It’s like air quality. The worse it is, the more you notice it. There are exceptions, and in this particular case Ergo, the book, is so simple that you’re more prone to discovering the book's type than you might in other titles. Consider the fact that for most of the storyline the main character is relegated to an egg. To make this book visually splendid, therefore, would be a bit of a challenge for Ms. Viviane Schwarz. But Ms. Viviane Schwarz appears to be a woman that relishes a challenge. Put yourself in her shoes. Let us say that you are the artist for this book. You now must illustrate the sentence, “Then something went BUMP!” What do you do? If you are Ms. Schwarz, you rely on your old friend typography to do a bit of the heavy lifting. On the left-hand page is the sentence. The “BUMP!” is approximately 5 ½ times larger than the rest of the words. It commands attention. On the opposite page sits Ergo, in her shell, looking at the reader with the world’s most perfect expression on her face. One pupil is juuuuuuuust a little bit larger than the other. Something about that combination makes me inordinately happy. I can’t explain it. All that I can say is that this two-page spread is what happens with art and text work together in perfect tandem. It’s what every picture book should aspire to achieve.
Part of the joy of the book is that it can be read a multitude of different ways. When Ergo thinks of herself as “the world”, how different is that, really, from those very small children that truly do believe that the world revolves around them? You can read it on a philosophical level (the book is dedicated, on Schwarz’s part, “To all the children asking their first big questions”). It is not a big step from this to asking kids whether or not they think their own world is just an “egg”, so to speak. And while I don’t think that Ergo was written to be a response to the last year or two, boy does it fit the times in which we live. From our online social media keeping us tucked safe and sound in our own comfortable shells, to the relative safety that comes from not leaving your shell, there’s a lot to love. I can’t be the only person staring out my window, just itching to peck my way out and into that beautiful big world out there. Ergo is the proof.
For ages 3-6.
November 6, 2021
A small chick waiting to hatch is not sure about the outside world. But - cogito, ergo sum - a great way to sneak perception of the Cartesian method into a small mind. Really liked the illustrations, very kawaii and charming. A nice first book on philosophy - that will have YOU thinking - I think.
October 29, 2021
There are some big thoughts in this book for people to think about
October 25, 2021
Ergo, by Alexis Deacon
I obviously ordered the wrong book. Never mind
- a chick in an egg begins self-awareness.
I obviously ordered the wrong book. Never mind
- a chick in an egg begins self-awareness.
August 17, 2021
This philosophical picture book explores one chick’s world. Ergo wakes up not realizing she is inside an egg and thinks that she has discovered her entire world. She has eyes to see, toes that wiggle, wings that flap, a beak to peck and legs that kick. Perhaps, she thinks, she is the world and she had found everything. That’s when she discovers the wall of the egg around her. She pushes the wall, rolls the egg over, and realizes that she can move the entire world! That’s when she feels the bumps coming from outside the egg and realizes that she is not the entire world. Now she must decide whether to leap (or peck) her way into the unknown or stay safe in her small universe of the egg.
Deacon and Schwarz follow I Am Henry Finch with this picture book that plays with Plato. The book works on multiple levels, allowing adults to recognize the philosophy while also really working well as a picture book for young children that asks big questions about our world and our place within the universe. The use of the little chick and an egg serve a clever purpose here. Ergo asks the big questions while the simple style of the writing supports the ideas being shared.
The illustrations are simple and bold. Done in a sunshine yellow, Ergo fills the page. Often surrounded by a cool blue-gray, the illustrations show Ergo and her world, egg-sized and then larger.
Clever and inquisitive, this book will egg on children’s thinking about the world. Appropriate for ages 2-6.
Deacon and Schwarz follow I Am Henry Finch with this picture book that plays with Plato. The book works on multiple levels, allowing adults to recognize the philosophy while also really working well as a picture book for young children that asks big questions about our world and our place within the universe. The use of the little chick and an egg serve a clever purpose here. Ergo asks the big questions while the simple style of the writing supports the ideas being shared.
The illustrations are simple and bold. Done in a sunshine yellow, Ergo fills the page. Often surrounded by a cool blue-gray, the illustrations show Ergo and her world, egg-sized and then larger.
Clever and inquisitive, this book will egg on children’s thinking about the world. Appropriate for ages 2-6.
July 30, 2021
This is a quirky philosophical story about a bird in his egg discovering his world - which is just himself, so he think HE is the whole world! A cute take on the egotism of children and the emergence of thinking outside yourself. Pretty deep philosophical stuff for the preschooler reader!
January 4, 2021
Super cute, a little quirky. Would definitely recommend.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks to Edelweiss and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
Want to read
March 26, 2021Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.
June 18, 2023
Family Picture Book Read-Aloud Afternoon: A Nine-Book Pile!
A chick in an egg comes to consciousness and amuses as it explores the extent of its limited world. Things peter out as it comes to a rude awakening.
I picked this out because I like Alexis Deacon's Geis/Curse of the Chosen series.
A chick in an egg comes to consciousness and amuses as it explores the extent of its limited world. Things peter out as it comes to a rude awakening.
I picked this out because I like Alexis Deacon's Geis/Curse of the Chosen series.
July 31, 2021
Somewhat of a companion tale to the previous I Am Henry Finch, this is the story of Ergo, a new chick contemplating her own world which, as far as she knows, exists only in the walls of her egg. But, as we all know, that is not everything there is. Tracking her exploration from the discovery of her toes through the consideration of what else there may be, we watch her thoughts, her reasoning develop. (It’s very reminiscent of watching babies emerge into the world around them.) The tale is filled with wondering and wonder. With economy of language and stunning illustration working hand-in-hand across the pages. Together, Deacon and Schwarz have created something really special. Rendered in a bright, limited palette of complementary yellows and blues, the action and expressions are easily read and lend great animation to the many thoughts and feelings the reader is sure to experience, whether they are only new to the world, like Ergo or have been knocking around the planet for quite some time. The flowing, clear line work and bold, vibrant watercolour illustrations guide us fluidly through Ergos’ journey until the end, where the world opens up, in all its’ colour and wonder. The ultimate effect is joyous and glorious.
May 8, 2021
Delightfully bright, contemplative, and surprisingly philosophical, Ergo is an imaginative young bird with a lot of questions about the world and what may (or may not) be beyond the mysterious walls that surround her. She is the world, and the world is her!... or is she? You'll have to read it to find out!
November 6, 2021
A chick, from inside her egg, contemplates epistemological questions. A picture book that can be appreciated on multiple levels and prompt children to think more about how they know what they know.
January 3, 2022
What it... what if this isn't the whole world?
December 7, 2021
From the creators of ‘I am Henry Finch’, comes another sensational picture book.
Ergo is discovering herself, her world and her place within it.
Cute, simple and philosophical this picture book works on several levels.
I love it.
Ergo is a little chick with agency, pecking her way through her constricting walls.
So many layers and possible classroom applications: symbolism, social & emotional learning, allegory, and theme (English Textual Concepts).
Ergo is discovering herself, her world and her place within it.
Cute, simple and philosophical this picture book works on several levels.
I love it.
Ergo is a little chick with agency, pecking her way through her constricting walls.
So many layers and possible classroom applications: symbolism, social & emotional learning, allegory, and theme (English Textual Concepts).
December 1, 2021
If I had a tag for "philosophical picture books," I'd use it for this book. The main character chick goes through various levels of self-awareness and theorizing about the rest of the world as she hatches from her egg. I thought it was great but I'm not entirely sure what little kids would get out of it.
April 9, 2022
I'm not sure who this book is for. It's an existential chicken.
December 18, 2021
Ergo, a chick who has not yet hatched, is at first content to think she is the entire world until curiosity prompts her to look beyond the walls of her shell.
The pictures are very simple, consisting mainly of Ergo's face making different expressions. The boldness of the lines and the yellow and gray color scheme help these illustrations to stand out even at a distance. They also have a cartoonish look to them that emphasizes the humorous moments of the story in which Ergo slowly discovers parts of herself, and then realizes that not everything is a part of her.
Because the illustrations can easily be seen at a distance and because the text involves lots of emphatic outbursts of excitement, this is a strong story time contender. Though it's really about bigger issues than a baby bird hatching, it would still fit well with an egg theme or bird theme for preschoolers and early elementary schoolers. I think it could also make for some interesting discussions among older listeners about thinking outside of boxes, taking chances, and expanding horizons.
Ergo reminds me a lot of Ollie by Olivier Dunrea and I think it would be interesting to read the two together, as Ergo gives the perspective from within the egg and the characters in Ollie view the same situation from without. I think this book may also appeal to readers who have enjoyed Jon Klassen's books. This story isn't unsettling and has a more definite message than most Klassen books I've read, but the use of the picture book medium to explore existential questions is very similar.
The pictures are very simple, consisting mainly of Ergo's face making different expressions. The boldness of the lines and the yellow and gray color scheme help these illustrations to stand out even at a distance. They also have a cartoonish look to them that emphasizes the humorous moments of the story in which Ergo slowly discovers parts of herself, and then realizes that not everything is a part of her.
Because the illustrations can easily be seen at a distance and because the text involves lots of emphatic outbursts of excitement, this is a strong story time contender. Though it's really about bigger issues than a baby bird hatching, it would still fit well with an egg theme or bird theme for preschoolers and early elementary schoolers. I think it could also make for some interesting discussions among older listeners about thinking outside of boxes, taking chances, and expanding horizons.
Ergo reminds me a lot of Ollie by Olivier Dunrea and I think it would be interesting to read the two together, as Ergo gives the perspective from within the egg and the characters in Ollie view the same situation from without. I think this book may also appeal to readers who have enjoyed Jon Klassen's books. This story isn't unsettling and has a more definite message than most Klassen books I've read, but the use of the picture book medium to explore existential questions is very similar.
March 16, 2022
Ergo, a cute baby chick who is yet to hatch, is at first delighted to wake up and discover she is the entire world, until her curiosity urges her to look beyond the constricting walls of her shell.
Ergo is a big thinker, and as she ponders about the troubling questions of who she is, she hears a noise outside of her shell. She begins to realise she may not be the entire world after all. She pecks her beak, flaps her wings, wiggles her toes and kicks her legs harder than ever until...(spoiler alert)crack!
Ergo breaks out of his shell.
A fantastically written picture book by Alexis Deacon and, perfected in the sunshine yellow of Ergo, where she always fills the page. Would definitely recommend for ages 2-6.
Ergo is a big thinker, and as she ponders about the troubling questions of who she is, she hears a noise outside of her shell. She begins to realise she may not be the entire world after all. She pecks her beak, flaps her wings, wiggles her toes and kicks her legs harder than ever until...(spoiler alert)crack!
Ergo breaks out of his shell.
A fantastically written picture book by Alexis Deacon and, perfected in the sunshine yellow of Ergo, where she always fills the page. Would definitely recommend for ages 2-6.
January 6, 2022
Ergo wakes up and begins exploring the world by wiggling her toes, flapping her wings, pecking her beak, and kicking her legs. When she encounters a wall, she begins to wonder if the world is bigger than just her. The inside perspective of an egg hatching is very different than other books where the reader sees the cracking happening on the outside. This would be a good one for a storytime about eggs or about us v. the world.
September 13, 2022
A funny existential book with scarce words that somehow covers a lot: how experience limits knowledge, how little minds come up with big questions, the bravery and determination it takes to face the unknown, and chicks pipping. Very cute illustrations, too. I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would, and I think kids would too.
November 6, 2021
Ergo wakes up! At first she thinks she is the world! But slowly she ponders and realizes - there must be something else outside of this shell! Is it bad or good? Ergo has to know - so she pecks away at the shell and hatches to discover a much bigger world than she could ever imagine!
December 10, 2021
Ergo wakes up inside an egg and thinks she has it all figured out. Then her egg cracks and reassesses her assumptions. A curious book that can be appreciated on many different levels. Older readers especially will find this a thoughtful and provocative picture book.
January 24, 2022
Very different feeling picture book. I liked the tone and the anticipation that built as the story progressed. This is the kind of book I could read a few times and have a different reaction to each time.
March 9, 2022
Ergo thinks she is the world until she hears sounds on the other side of her wall. She thinks "what if we are all stuck inside walls, all scared of one another, never knowing we are just the same". Her truth is on the other side of the wall. Deep
October 5, 2022
Ergo has only her beak, legs, and wings. She does not know what to think, leaving room for lots of creative thoughts. This book shares how things are not always how they appear. What’s on the outside of a current situation can be more magnificent that you ever imagined.
October 23, 2021
Si Deleuze escribiera para niños, este sería un libro suyo
November 8, 2021
Clever and warm-hearted! In this sweet picture book, Ergo asks big philosophical questions while discovering the world. Highly recommended!
November 8, 2021
Ergo cracks out of her shell.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
January 23, 2022If you know me—yes, of course I liked this one. What did you expect?
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