Book Description
for What Will Hatch? by Jennifer Ward and Susie Ghahremani
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Eggs of eight different animals are presented with a few carefully selected words ("Sandy ball") paired with the question "What will hatch?" An equally spare answer ("Paddle and crawl - Sea turtle") augments the illustration of the brand-new juvenile. A balanced array of animals goes beyond birds (goldfinch, penguin, and robin) to include a caterpillar, crocodile, platypus, sea turtle, and tadpole. Egg shapes are die-cut, with the page turn cleverly revealing the result of each hatching. A few pages of additional information at the book's end introduce young children to the term "oviparous" and relate egg facts for each species (time in egg, parents' incubation behavior, number of siblings). Simple gouache on wood illustrations, while not always strictly representational, are consistently lovely with a warm palette of gold, green, and brown. (Ages 1-3)
CCBC Choices 2014. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2014. Used with permission.