Egg Drop

by Mini Grey

Now for something completely different from Mini Grey!

A mother hen tells her chicks about the egg that wanted to fly. “The egg was young. It didn’t know much. We tried to tell it, but of course it didn’t listen.” The egg loves looking up at the birds (yes, it has eyes). It climbs 303 steps (yes, it has legs) to the top of a very tall tower—and jumps. It feels an enormous egg rush. “Whee!” it cries. “I am flying!” But it is not flying, it is falling. Hold your tears, dear reader—there is a sunny ending for this modern-day Humpty Dumpty. Impossible to categorize, Egg Drop is Mini Grey at her zaniest.

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Childrens, Animals, Humor, Storytime, Food

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

Mini Grey was given her name after being born in a Mini in a car park in Newport, Wales. She studied for an MA in Sequential Illustration at Brighton under the tutelage of John Vernon Lord. Mini also worked as a primary school teacher in Oxford, where she now lives. Her books includeEgg Drop, The Pea and the Princess (shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), Biscuit Bear(winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award), Traction Man is Here (winner of the Boston Horn Book Award and shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon (winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Bronze Award and winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), and Traction Man meets Turbodog. Mini Grey is one of the Big Picture's ten Best New Illustrators. (source: https://www.penguin.co.uk/puffin/auth...)

Reviews

[Erin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Listen to your elders or die. Reaching for your dreams will kill you. My 2-year-old didn't understand it that way, but those were pretty much my take-aways.

This little egg - a modern humpty dumpty - just wanted to fly. But he was impatient and tried to achieve his dream before he should've, so he ended up next to some bacon on the farmer's plate instead.

I enjoyed the illustration, and the story's concept is interesting, but if my daughter hadn't picked this out at the library, I would've left it on the shelf. Thankfully, she's too young to really understand.

Older kids might find it amusing, but I find it a little morbid for a children's book. Give it a pre-read and decide for yourself before sharing it with your little ones.

[Danielle · Rating 1 out of 5]

Possibly the most horrifying children's book I have ever read. An egg wanted to fly so it jumped off a tower and splatted. But don't worry, someone ate it.

[Treasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

"This is the story of an egg that wanted to fly." This egg, who never gets a name (which is probably a good thing), thinks and plans, trying to figure out how he can fly. One day he finds a tall tower, so, in an attempt to fly, he climbs to the top and jumps off.

The illustrations that accompany this somewhat strange story are really beautiful, most of the time. I especially love the illustration of the egg standing on the edge of the tower, looking down. It's a gorgeous two-page spread.

I actually thought this book was pretty funny, but I don't know that I could read it to young children. Its sense of humor is perhaps a little mature for young children.


Spoiler alert:

This really shouldn't be much of a spoiler... an egg falls off something tall. What's going to happen? Yeah. So, I am not sure how children would feel about the egg getting smashed. And then eaten. I can picture some children getting very upset about this. But maybe it would work with the right group of kids, especially if they were older.

[Tasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grey returns with another fantastical tale about an inanimate object. This time it is an egg. An egg who would not wait. An egg who would not listen. The Egg wanted to fly – like a bird, like a helicopter, like a round brown blimp. But it did not understand aerodynamics, so it headed up a tower to soar. At first the egg thought it was flying. But it was falling instead. Don’t despair, it did not go to waste.

Grey is wonderfully quirky in all of her picture books. Mixing in Bernoulli’s principle and aerodynamics just adds to that strange surrealism in her picture books that make them both very different and very intriguing. Her illustrations are mix graph paper with flying eggs, what’s not to love! With this book, Grey has once again expanded what picture books can be about and what they can say.

A strange and interesting picture book that does not nicely fit into units or story times, but is wonderful nonetheless. Share this one with any quirky kids you know. Appropriate for ages 4-6.

[Jenn · Rating 1 out of 5]

An egg wants to learn how to fly. Its hen-elders advise it to wait. It doesn't. It climbs to the top of a tower. It jumps off, happily anticipating flight. It splats on the ground and dies. But don't worry--someone makes an omelette out of it in the end, so nothing is wasted. Yay!

Here's what I think. If an egg can learn how to climb a tower, there's no reason it shouldn't be encouraged to learn how to fly and be assisted by its hen-elders to achieve that dream. It is obviously a gifted egg.

[Issy Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mini Grey's Egg Drop is a hilarious children's book written for children in KS1. It has some very dry humour in it and a rather cynical ending, but that is why I think it is an important read as children need to know that not all endings are good and happy. Good links to science when learning about how gravity works.

Its no yolk, it's a shell of a book. Truly eggsellent. Would recommend to anyone who enjoys witty banter. Mini Grey really cracks the jokes in this book.

[One Code 431 · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah okay

[Christiane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay, this was in my review bag this month and the more I read it the more I actually liked it!

Review for children's meeting:

"A mother hen tells her chicks about the egg that wanted to fly. The egg was young. It didn't know much. We tried to tell it, but of course it didn't listen. The egg loves looking up at the birds (it has eyes). The egg climbs (it has legs) to the top of a very tall tower and jumps. 'Wheee!' it cries. 'I am flying.' But it is not flying. It is falling. Luckily there is a sunny (side-up) ending for this modern-day Humpty Dumpty. (Still not for the squeamish.)


Original review:

I love Mini Grey, Traction Man especially. But this is very odd, even for me, who love odd books with twisty endings. I don't want to spoil the ending but the book is about an egg...who wants to fly...and decides to climb up a very, very tall tower.... The illustrations are wonderful as usual, but I found the last page to just be disturbing! I'm not quite sure of her audience for this one.

[Hayley Craig · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really lovely story about an egg who wants to fly. Children could be asked to explore the front cover first to see what it tells them. The front cover gives so many clues about the story - flying chicken, parachute, the egg and lots of flying insects down the sound. The end papers - get the children to look for the little egg which is the main focus of the story. Lots of questions can be considered throughout - different ways to fly and what can fly, ask children what they see when they look up, how would children get the egg to fly, how do you think the egg felt being up high, what happens when cooking eggs, how could we slow down the fall and make it a safe flight. Links to habitats, counting, life cycle of animals, cooking, space, making parachute, making a tower, investigate the best way to attach materials together, forces, the wright brothers and the first aeroplane flight.

[Danny · Rating 5 out of 5]

An egg doesn't listen to the advice of his mother, who advises waiting, and decides to follow his dream of flying. He jumps from a tower, briefly believing he has achieved his dream, but we are told he is not flying--he is falling. After his broken body is retrieved they try to help him, but again our own hopes are dashed when the omniscient narrator tells us that "shells don't heal." While his mother imagines the life that was lost, we see that the egg "was not wasted" and ended up on a plate next to some bacon.

The moral seems to be that the world is a cold, hard place that chews up the innocent and idealistic among us.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story had a bit of black humor, but we enjoyed it. Mostly. Ok, I enjoyed the black humor--I don't think my niece and nephew found it to be quite as funny as I did--they came to identify with the egg too much, and weren't happy with his Humpty-Dumpty like fate. The kids, my nephew in particular, really liked the pictures in this one. They were creative and entertaining, and the story was just fun (in some people's opinion) silliness. Who knew a little egg with big dreams could win the hearts of little children?

[Kaethe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For a fuller explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.

This one grew on me. For some reason the egg sweat just killed me. And the pac-man mouth.

Library copy

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous story about an egg that wanted to fly. Some rich language is used, such as; ‘aerodynamics’. It also addresses the fact that chicks come from eggs but also they can be cooked therefore a good talking point with children.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a fun, but very odd story about an egg who wants to fly. I thought it was very strange, but our girls liked it.

[Lance Cotton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great must-read book that smashes traditional the-skys-the-limit themes and teaches our children to lower their ambitions and be followers. Like sheep but in this case chickens.

[Katy Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Egg Drop' is recommended for children aged 4-6. This is a humorous story about an impatient egg, that had always dreamed of being able to fly and a refusal to accept that it can’t! This is a funny story with some great illustrations, making it a particularly engaging read.

This story has some subtle lessons, such as the importance of listening and patience, that could be used as a discussion point for classroom rules. There are also several cross-curricular links with this story too. For example, a Science lesson on the properties of materials (perhaps an egg dropping experiment using protective materials or irreversible changes of an egg breaking). Alternatively, it could also be used to introduce a lesson on animal life cycles. This book would also be a good choice for a phonics lesson on the alternative ‘y’ sound, as the words ‘fly’, ‘try’ and ‘sky’ are all used throughout the story.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Both an enjoyable and educating read. From the off I was immediately drawn to Mini Grey's illustrations. Whilst revealing a hidden emphasis on the importance of listening patience, the liaison between the opening and final illustrations can be seen as similar, with slight alterations. This offers readers a chance to analyse the differences between the two images (e.g. unhatched vs hatched, odd egg out vs missing egg). I like how each double-page is filled with illustrations, this gives readers the chance to explore and inference ideas. The application of short, sharp sentences aids children in their reading and phonetic development whilst adopting strategies to convey mood. Additionally, this story can be linked alongside historical events, opening a door for cross curricular learning to take place. Despite a happy ending, the only thing missing from this story was humor.

[Harriet · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good picture book which can be used for cross-curricular topics in EYFS and KS1. Particularly useful for Science and D&T, whereby there are number of different activities that could arise from reading this book such as constructing the tower and/or a parachute to protect the egg to land safely, discussing what the difference is between falling and flying for example.

It is great for adding and providing context to learning, making it fun. Also a good picture book for incorporating book talk and making predictions about what they think the story will be about, what do they think will happen next etc.

[Jessica Matthews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Egg Drop is a very stimulating book which can trigger plenty of scientific thinking. The story is comical whilst also being useful in the classroom which is ideal to keep children engaged. Ideas for a classroom include: discussing bouncing, why the egg smashed, airplanes and flying, what happens when you drop eggs from different heights, using different materials to soften the fall, what happens when eggs are cooked, the vinegar test and using paper mache to recreate the broken egg to see how it could be put back together. It can also trigger emotional questions regarding kindness- the question of whether anything can ever be truly fixed once it has been smashed and broken.

[Penguins Class · Rating 1 out of 5]

"It was kind of weird and the egg wanted to fly and that was weird, I didn't like it"
"It's just...weird. Why would an egg have legs? Why does it have glasses? Why does it even want to fly? And it has eyes and that is just weird. And eggs cannot think"
"if you liked it 5 stars you would say it was egg-cellent"
"I am sorry Mini Grey but I just don't like it"
"It lives in a weird village and there are weird numbers in the background. I just don't know why - all sorts"

[Cassandra Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Salvador Dali would have loved this book. It's a bit of absurdist surrealism that doesn't really have its own niche. I don't think it warranted the moral outrage that it received, but it definitely is an odd and unsettling book to read to a youngster. It's basically a modern retelling of Humpty Dumpty, but instead of the egg falling off the wall, it launches itself from a tower. The images are the most disturbing part of this book. My rating is probably somewhere in the 2.5 range.

[Bryony Wells]

A great little story but I found it quite sad with a surprising ending! However, this book makes for an amazing science lesson for younger children and even older children. It is a fun and interesting read and can be linked to all sorts of science such as gravity.
I feel that many children can relate to the little egg character; the feeling of waiting is so boring and long but in the end it is worth it. I feel that this is an important lesson to teach children as well.

[Syntha Green · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this could be a fun read for storytime, older children and adults might notice the holes in the plot such as: If an egg is so terribly broken that its shell can't be repaired it is highly unlikely that it can become a beautifully fried egg.

[Christina Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some children will love this while others will be horrified by it! Full of Mini Grey's lovely illustrations and quirky humour, this woild be a fun read-together if your child is familiar with Humpty Dumpty -Year 2 upwards will probably love it, but younger children may be disturbed by the ending!

[Alana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fab picture book! It is great for KS1 as it can be used for discussions on the different events that happen throughout the book. For example, it’s important children are aware that not everything ends positively.

[Frances Coe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to us in physics as part of investigation inspiration, cross curricular work and using picture books in science. Lovely words and lovely illustrations. Led us all to make parachutes for hard boiled eggs. We also enjoyed many an eggcellent joke.

[Carl Fickerage · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is absolutely ridiculous.
The amount of gall that the author must have to kill THE egg from egg drop, not just any egg but THE egg from egg drop, is perhaps the most audacious decision I have ever seen in literature. This story has no plot other than the egg effectively committing suicide, whereafter he is then eaten like a mid-ladder player soaking up elixir from a bested elixir golem after half their tower has already been taken. Also, the egg is a complete idiot but somehow the author's diabolical writing means that I'm actually feeling bad for it because the author is just that messed up in the head. Mini Grey, if you are trying to write a children's book again, maybe try not to have the main character split up into a million bloody pieces and then proceed to defile his corpse with nails, tomato sauce, and chewing gum, in one of the most graphic displays in modern fiction. The message that the author is trying to convey is cruel at best, but to be honest it is downright manipulation of our youth and killing off their curiosity. I would rather be infected by Piggy than read my children Egg Drop, as the environment that Mini Grey creates is even more toxic than the worst of Mr. P's poisons. I bet Mini P.E.K.K.A could write a better children's novel than Mini Grey with his eye closed, even if he was level one and Mini Grey was maxed out level 16 with a pancake boost from the Chef Tower. Speaking of pancakes, who thought it was a great idea to recreate a nice breakfast at the end of the story by turning the egg into a fried meal? Mini Grey was clearly working with the dark lord when writing this book, or maybe even working with TIO, because she's effectively teaching kids that if they don't be boring little bums their whole lives, they're going to end up the breakfast meal! The world that Mini Grey envisions for our youth is less like a world and more like a concentration camp. You can't do anything anymore! I bet Mini Grey probably runs logbait and thinks it's skill, and she probably just abuses forcefield in Piggy and never uses any of the other abilities! She's the sort of person to run Mega Knight cycle all the way to top ladder because she's too scared to do anything fun. Shame on you Mini Grey, and hopefully you'll think twice before putting out another one of your sadistic little stories so that the generation of tomorrow doesn't have to get poisoned by this crap.

[Shelley]

It's Banned Book Week October 1st - 7th, 2023!!! I took out 9 children's books I haven't read before to read this week. This is one of them.

This story is about the Egg who wanted to fly and by the title of the book you'll know what the outcome will be.

So whoever decided to ban this book because the egg ends up dying, so why isn't all the Disney stories and movies also banned? If they made them into movie with live characters, they are terrifying, the witches in Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Little Mermaid? Or how about the cruelty in Cinderella with the step mother and the 3 step sisters? Or how about old stories like the big band woof in Little Riding Hood? So people please give me a break in banning books. Each child is different. You know your child. Read the story first, decide if this is the right book for them. Some will find it hilarious, others will feel sad.

I thought the illustrations were wonderful.

[Mackenzie Hines · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Egg Drop” was a fantastic read! The story follows a young egg whose only dream in life is to fly. He doesn’t care about anything else. His elders keep telling him to wait and listen to them but he doesn’t and ends up splatting on the ground because he wasn’t ready to fly. Readers then find out the the egg is actually a modern day version of Humpty Dumpty. This being Grey’s first book, it was framed toward old folk and fairy tales because she didn’t believe she was as strong of a writer as an illustrator.

[Karson Canterbury · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is really horrifying, and I can see why it's banned. It has some very questionable pictures, including one that makes the egg look like it's bleeding, and it doesn't really teach much of anything. It teaches bad lessons about trying to have eggs fly. The end makes it worse by having the egg on the plate "not going to waste," but the page before shows the eggs hatching, showing and saying that if it had waited, it would have been born and could have flown, and I think it could make kids want to go outside and play with eggs.