First the Egg (Caldecott Honor Book and Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor Book (Awards))

First the egg by bestselling author and illustrator Laura Vaccaro Seeger is a 2008 Caldecott Honor Book and a 2007 New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year.

This title has Common Core connections.

Read more From Booklist Beginning with the die cut on the cover, which completes the title and hides a secret underneath, this delivers a string of delightful surprises as Seeger crisply explores the stages of development in the natural world and, then, how a story grows.

Thickly textured backgrounds provide visual energy for minimalist images that cleverly incorporate additional die cuts. “First the EGG,” reads the text on the opening spread, which pictures the egg through an appropriately shaped hole.

When children flip the page, they’ll find a fuzzy chick and its adult counterpart—“then the CHICKEN.” So it goes through the life stages of frog, flower, and butterfly. Suddenly, Seeger turns away from nature.

“First the WORD,” she writes, “then the STORY.” “First the PAINT .

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then the PICTURE,” accompanied by a painting that pulls the book together, showing chicken, flower, frog, and butterfly enjoying a beautiful day together.

A funny finale sets up the book’s beginning. Pages are sturdy enough to support young readers’ eager hands as they explore this innovative and engaging work of art.