Have You Seen My Egg?

Have You Seen My Egg? By Penny Olsen, illustrated by Rhonda Garward (National Library of Australia)
PB RRP $ 17.95
ISBN 9780642277886
Reviewed by Anastasia Gonis

Eddy emu is missing an egg. He sets out to find it. He asks magpies Maggie and Matt. They are watching their own eggs hatch. Young readers can lift the corner flap and view the hatching of each baby animal/insect represented from here on.

He asks Ella the echidna, but she’s occupied with her puggle. Lizzie lizard, Fiona the frog, and Suzy the spider who still has her babies in a silk bag, are all preoccupied with their newborns. By the time Eddy reaches Selena the snail and Connie the crocodile, he is extremely anxious.

Sandy the shark’s pup has just appeared, and so have all of Tessie the turtle’s hatchlings. But they haven’t seen Eddy’s egg.

As a last resort, he asks Pip and Poppy the penguins to help him. But they must mind their own eggs. When Eddy gets to Harriet the hen, he is desperate. She suggests he goes back to his other eggs. And he does.

Can you guess what happened to Eddy’s egg?

This exciting and educational book for young children introduces twelve Australian animals/insects. With glorious full-page colour illustrations of the parent on the left page, it identifies the name of each baby hidden under a die cut flap at the bottom corner.

The thoughtful presentation and attention to detail in these full-page illustrations is commendable for it will challenge questioning minds that thirst for information. There is a Did You Know? section on the twelve subjects’ lifestyle and habits, with accompanying photos referenced for further research.