Good Egg

by Barney Saltzberg

Meet Egg. Cuter than a button, enormously personable, and talented, too. Say "sit," and Egg sits. Good Egg! Say "roll over," and egg rolls over. What a good Egg! Of course, Egg does all of this with a toddler's help, who lifts the flaps and pulls the tabs and operates the wiggle behind the wiggle-waggle. But that's the most fun interacting with the Egg.

Then comes the pay-off. "Speak," is the command, and children will crack up in delight and surprise with what happens next.

Created by Barney Saltzberg, Good Egg is that rarest of rare books where utter simplicity is utterly irresistible. The Egg has neither eyes nor smile nor furrowed brow, yet exudes an adorable, eager-to-please charm. No sentence is longer than two words, yet in the eight board book pages, an engaging story is told.  Add the flaps and the tabs and the pleasure of movement, and Good Egg will be read again and again.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

20 pages, Board Book

First published March 16, 2009

About the author

Barney Saltzberg is the author and illustrator of close to 50 books for children, including Beautiful Oops!, Arlo Needs Glasses, Good Egg, Cornelius P. Mud , Crazy Hair Day and the bestselling Touch and Feel Kisses series with over 800,000 copies in print. He has two new releases, Tea With Grandpa and Chengdu Could Not Would Not Fall Asleep coming this spring.
Additionally, he’s recorded four CDs of music for children. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife and two dogs.

Reviews

[Chi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my (and my children's) favourite board book! Simple to understand for the early years reader, and amazing mechanics about a very clever and obedient egg, I honestly wish that I could get my hands on another copy of this, coz mine is VERY well-loved! 😂

[☼Bookish in Virginia☼ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barney Saltzberg's Good Egg is a delightful little book that's bound to tickle the funny bones of quite a few folks -- old and young. The premise is that the reader is training an egg. Or as my children call him/her... "Egg". And the effectiveness of this training is demonstrated by a series of flaps and pull tabs that will have you and your little one teaching Egg to sit and roll-over, lie down ...and speak.

SPEAK!
Yes, it's true! At the end of the book, you'll find yourself asking Egg to "speak". And Egg does just that... when it hatches and a charming yellow chick pops out and flaps it's wings for you.

There's a video and I've got it on me blog at http://booksforkids-reviews.com though you might also check YouTube.

Pam T.
mom and reviewer

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun, funny pull tab book. Unfortunately, our copy of it is now only partially functional, so that makes it less fun. I think only adults have used this book, so it hasn't recieved rough handling. Perhaps it is just then nature of what is required of the egg that makes the book less sturdy than it mgiht be.

[Melanie Ellsworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have given this one as a gift many times! It fascinated our daughter when she was young.

[Syntha Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun interactive book

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and clever, with interactive flaps, pull tabs, and reveals.

[theclimbingrock · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was our child’s favourite book when she was 1 or 2, needless to say, it is in pieces but we had so much fun “reading” it. 😁

[Betsy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know, in the old days a children's librarian would sooner saw off her right arm than be caught adding a "novelty" book to her children's room. We are the standard bearers. The folks who can distinguish the gold from the crapola. We are now and always have been the arbitrators of taste. The problem with being an arbitrator? Well, sometimes the really good stuff that also happens to be fun gets lost in the mix. Take the "novelty" book. The term usually applies to any book that has some kind of cheery, silly element to it. Pat the Bunny is a novelty book. Anything that involves feeling, pushing, testing, or smelling a story would constitute a novelty book. Pop-up books would even, under the strictest definition of the term, be considered novelties. But times have changed. Librarians now acknowledge that hiding within the silliest premise is the chance to get a kid engaged in a book. Think of novelty books as the gateway drugs to literature. And if you follow that metaphor to its logical conclusion, Barney Saltzberg's Good Egg is one delightfully addictive little creation.

This is where I tend to summarize the book before me. This one's pretty direct. An egg is given a series of instructions. It's very good at "sit" (lifting the page shows it to be in the same spot). Good egg! "Lie down" means that pulling a tab lets the egg lean to the side. Good egg! Roll over, shake, and catch are all demanded ("catch" is a particularly clever spread). Finally, the egg is told to speak. Pull the tab and a crack appears. "Speak!" the book demands, forcefully. Two little eyes poke out of the egg. Turn the page at last and a chick has emerged, cheeping its little head off. Good egg!

Generally I have a hard time reviewing the shortest of the short picture or board books because (and I don't know if you've noticed this) I am wordy. How much can a person really say about a book that's only 17 or so pages in length? Well, first things first. Is Good Egg any (for lack of a more appropriate term) good? I think so. I like the simplicity of it all. This is a book that goes for a fun and simple gag at the end that small children will not see coming. Saltzberg is aiming for a pretty young audience, so the novelty elements have to not only work in terms of construction, but the book itself has to be attractive to small tykes. The die-cut cover will help in this way. And the colors are good. The pages are usually cut into two different colors with the pure white egg resting on the horizontal line between them. There are few words, but they get right to the point. Basically, if you're a parent you're going to be able to read this book over and over and over to your delighted miniature audience without the desire to strangle yourself when they ask for it again. Not even once.

The book has been designed and lettered by one Netta Rabin who has done a thorough job. Words are clear and easy to read. Each "trick" the egg pulls is unique, and works. There's also the sheer toughness of the construction. As a librarian my concern when I see something with flaps and tabs is how long it will circulate in my system before it has to be thrown out. One time? Two? Good Egg has the distinction of being a particularly sturdy little construction, I'm pleased to say. It's not a board book, of course. So kids definitely have the chance of rending it asunder. But I liked that the pull-tabs weren't flimsy little flecks of cardboard, held together with spit and glue. When the book tells the egg to lie down, the tab you pull turns out to be almost as wide as the book itself, and consists of a thick purple construction. The "roll over" command has a smaller tab. And with the egg turning and flipping, this will probably be one of the first parts of the book to go. Even so, I was pleased to see that even the pop-up element at the end is firmly ensconced between the last two pages. And while it might be possible to pull out the baby chick's arms if you were really determined to do so, it's not going to happen easily.

This is one of those reviews where someone inevitably tells me "Hey! Your review is longer than the book!" That's cause I've a lot to say about books I actually enjoy reading. Does it have any problems to speak of? I dunno. I mean, it's a pretty short plot. Moby Dick it ain't. If you're looking for melodrama and a book that captures the heart of the American novel, I have bad news for you. This ain't it. If, on the other hand, you want a fun book to amuse small kids with, which also happens to sport interactive elements and slick graphic design, happy days are yours again. Good Egg is a keeper.

[Brittany Bean · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about an egg that does different things such as rolling over, laying down and so on. At the end of the book the egg hatches and the chick comes out. I like this book because on each page there is something to do like pulling a tab to make the egg roll. There is alot of involvement in this book. I feel this would be a more one on one book because there is so much involvement, in a classroom you will every child wanting to do each thing.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is adorable. Maybe even 5 stars adorable. While you and your child read and "do" this "pop-up" type book, you've trained an egg. Yep, a regular white chicken egg. "Sit" comes easy; as does "lie down," "roll over," and "catch." "Speak" is a bit more difficult--but eventually happens. Barney Saltzberg gets folks of all ages chuckling with this story of about 30 words!

[Brielle McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so cute! This would be a great book to get kids involved in reading! The egg sits, rolls over, speaks, shakes, and more! There are even flaps and tabs allowing kids to interact with the book. I would recommend this book to parents or educators with 2 years olds in their care. Teaching them these commands with this book will be very fun and engaging!

[Elizabeth S · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun board book that includes manipulating the pages. An egg is commanded to roll, jump, or shake and the reader can make the egg on that page do as commanded. Then we all say "Good egg!" and turn the page.

[Brooke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Egg focuses on teaching children actions. The book is an interactive book in which the egg moves and performs actions according to the manipulation of tabs. The book teaches words typical to commands one would teach a dog.

[Joella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this book. Such fun interactions with the egg as it does each command. "Egg. Sit. Good Egg." And the ending although not unexpected for adults will be pure joy for youngsters. Like I said, love it. :)

[Molly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want a pet egg and this one did everything we asked of it. This is a cute sweet pop-up book about an egg that does everything you want it too. Fabu. Ages 3+

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

And I thought I was in love with Hi! Blueberry. This is great.

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mostly overwhelmingly popular in this house because it's a pop-up book. Still, entertaining for the caregiver as well.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

fun fun fun! Good Egg. Sit Egg, Speak Egg.

[Emilee]

This is a great and interactive book! Great for infants because they can twist, pull, and see the changes of the egg as they pull on the tab.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matthew loves this book. You tell the egg what to do and it does it - such a good egg!

[E · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOW did the author come up with this idea? It will possibly be a child's first introduction to philosophy, art and critical thinking. And therefore, indispensable.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Clever and fun. My daughter's getting this one for Easter.

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just wish the eggs weren't so easily removable by little fingers. Still, a super fun Easter book with lots of moving pieces!

[Jenny Takenaka · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this one because my husband, called me a good egg a lot. After reading it myself and now to my kids, it's a fun book.