First the Egg

First the Egg

by Laura Vaccaro Seeger

Which came first? The chicken or the egg? Simple die-cuts magically present transformation - from seed to flower, tadpole to frog, caterpillar to butterfly. Laura Vaccaro Seeger gives an entirely fresh and memorable presentation to the concepts of transformation and creatiity. Seed becomes flower, paint becomes picture, word becomes story - and the commonplace becomes extraordinary as children look through and turn the pages of this novel and winning book.

This early introduction into natural transformations is based on the age-old question, "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" The use of die-cuts adds an extra bit of intrigue for preschoolers, who will eagerly flip to the next page to find what each primary object transforms into, such as the egg to a chick to a chicken or a caterpillar to a cocoon to a butterfly. The canvas-style paintings are bright and colorful while the use of cut-outs make the book unique.

With simplistic, repetitive text that follows the "first, then" approach, this is a great book for both early readers and antsy kids. Ask your child what they think is going to happen to the tadpole or the seed and watch as they excitedly turn the page to find out. The ending of the story, "First the chicken, then the egg," completes the loop to the beginning of the story and leaves kids pondering the chicken versus egg conundrum.

When I read this story to Emily, the little girl I babysit, and asked her what she thought the butterfly would become, she looked at me with glee-filled eyes and said, "Let's find out!" We spent a good deal of time flipping between the pages and investigating how the die-cut transformed from looking like one object to looking like another. She was amazed when the "First paint, then picture" scene unfolded and she realized that she was looking at a painting of all the previous full-grown creatures on the same page.

--Abby

This is a fabulous little book asking a question as well as showing other examples of nature and transformation and change, such as the tadpole..seed…caterpillar. This book is an excellent read if you have a young scientist like I do! Any child that enjoys nature and change will enjoy this book. It is bright and colorful and will keep your little one flipping the pages..I know it keeps my little man reading! I highly recommend this for any 3-4 year old!

--Paige, Gainesville, FL