That Egg Is Mine!: A Silly Story about Sharing

K-Gr 2–Duck finds a blue spotted egg. Cluck has lost an egg matching that exact description. They disagree on who owns the egg and both state their cases, until their argument culminates in a chase that causes the egg to fall and crack. The prehistoric hatchling reveals that the egg, in fact, belongs to a third party, neither duck nor chicken. The animal that hatches from the egg is not identified, but emerging readers will recognize a pterodactyl and may get a kick out of the silent P that begins the spelling of each of the baby’s “pquak” sounds. In the end, the rightful mother whisks away the baby. With the exception of a short flashback sequence in which Duck chases the tumbling egg through a few colorful and unexpected scenes, including a basketball court and a mini-golf course, most of the illustrations consist of pastel yellow and blue subjects on empty white backgrounds. Some pages employ frames and speech bubbles. Not addressed is the fact that both Duck and Cluck have the same claim to the egg: neither laid it, and both assume a self-centered finders-keepers-if-I’m-the-finder mentality. Though this series starter is perhaps not the most scintillating or original story, it’s amusing and well-suited for new readers.