First the Egg

Seeger, L. (2007). First the Egg. New York, NY: Roaring Book Press.

Brief Annotation: This book is a creatively illustrated story of order. The thick paintbrush strokes add to the story and the cutouts that match the front and back of each page are an excited addition as well. My favorite part of the story is the dust cover, because whether you have it on or not depends on the title of the book, with it, it is called First the egg, and without it, it is called First the Chicken.

Genre: Concept book

Grade Level: K-4

Readers who will like this: Readers who love beautifully illustrated pages and cutouts where they can flip each page and back and forth, will love this book. New reader and advanced readers will enjoy flipping the pages of this book. The language is simple enough but the real art is in the illustrations.

Response/Rating (1-4): 4! The page where the whole book comes together after all the pages of how to make a book is by far the best ending. The cutout of the chicken’s background being the egg and looping the story back to the beginning reunites the concept of orders.

One question you would ask before a read aloud: Do you like to paint?

Reading Strategies Connection: Make your own connection of a before and after concept that is not found in the story and paint a picture of it. The purpose of this activity would be to get students to think critically about things that happen in sequence. I would want to give them a choice to describe their connection with a strategy that fits their learning style best. That is why I would let them either draw/paint their connection or to use a verbal strategy. This book gives a wide variation of concepts to help the kids to start making connections.