Preview this TitleBook Descriptions
for The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci and Jerry Pinkney
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
A Creole folktale from the U.S. Southern oral tradition features two sisters: a favored, spoiled, lazy daughter named Rose; and a generous, kind, hard-working one named Blanche. The girls are given identical tasks by a mysterious woman in the woods. Blanche obeys directions such as not to laugh at what she sees—and she sees the woman take off her head! Unlike selfish Rose who fails to follow any of the directions, Blanche is rewarded for her trust and obedience. This beautifully designed and printed version of a tale previously known by many in its Anglo-European variant features African-American characters wonderfully realized by Pinkney. His drawing and painting show fresh observations of humans and of the animal world and contain a richness of detail and motion harmonious with the tale's idiom, time and place. (Ages 4-9)
CCBC Choices 1989. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 1989. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
A 1989 Caldecott Honor Book
One of The Atlantic’s 65 Essential Children’s Books
The author of such delights as The Christmas Ark and The Enchanted Tapestry joins forces with illustrator Pinkney to resurrect a colorful Creole folktale that captures the unique flavor of the American South.
It's a tale of two sisters: Rose, who is spoiled and lazy but her mother's favorite, and sweet Blanche, who is forced to fetch and carry and do all the hard work for her mother and sister. Blanche's life is miserable until one day when her kindness to an old witch-woman catapults her into a miraculous world where cows have two heads and bray like mules, and rabbits in fancy dress dance the Virgina reel. Strangest of all are the wondrous talking eggs.
One of The Atlantic’s 65 Essential Children’s Books
The author of such delights as The Christmas Ark and The Enchanted Tapestry joins forces with illustrator Pinkney to resurrect a colorful Creole folktale that captures the unique flavor of the American South.
It's a tale of two sisters: Rose, who is spoiled and lazy but her mother's favorite, and sweet Blanche, who is forced to fetch and carry and do all the hard work for her mother and sister. Blanche's life is miserable until one day when her kindness to an old witch-woman catapults her into a miraculous world where cows have two heads and bray like mules, and rabbits in fancy dress dance the Virgina reel. Strangest of all are the wondrous talking eggs.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
