I love this new picturebook by one of my favorite author/illustrators, and on a whim decided to use it for preschool storytime yesterday, even though it seems more logical to use it for one-on-one book sharing due to its size, shape, and multiple partial pages.  I was also worried that my preschool storytime crowd might think the story was too simple and spare and not be engaged.

But The Odd Egg was a total hit.  The kids were completely enthralled, and were so excited about the story’s progression that they couldn’t stay in their seats.  After several of them had run up to the book to view the pictures (blocking the view of others, of course), I had to start going around the room with each picture so that each child could get a good moment to view each illustration up close.  And the best part was the guffaws of laughter at the final illustration on the book’s endpages.  (I’m really glad that Nanette, the library’s awesome cataloger, had the foresight to process the book without the dust jacket so that last picture of duck and his “baby” can be fully appreciated.)

It’s so nice to find a picturebook that an adult (me) loves, and that also passes the test of a group of child listeners.  Bonus:  the kids loved the book, and stayed attentive to it, even though they were all wired up on the tons of sugar that they’d just consumed at their school’s Valentine’s Day party.  If a book can pass THAT test, then it’s a real winner.