This book give the children a chance to guess who the eggs belong to before telling them who. It tells you the bird and some facts about the kind of bird. Good for large group.
Age 4-6
Source: Lacey Timberland Regional Library

This book is an informational book on different kind of birds. The book shows photos of eggs and gives the readers clues on which bird the egg belongs to. Hatch includes penguins, owls, eagles, and song birds.

I wasn't a big fan of this book. There was a lot of useful information their habitats and nests. I think the biggest strength of this book was the ink images. The text itself seem to be too close together, making it hard to read.

Hatch! is an informational book that gives information on a wide variety of bird species. The format of the book presents the reader with a picture of an egg and some hints, and then reveals what type of bird it is. An entire unit could be built around this book, or it could be used bird-by-bird throughout a number of different lessons. It's a book that would be suitable for mid-to-upper elementary, and in't rather long, so it could fit easily into a wide variety of subjects. ( )

REVIEW:
This book covers a variety of birds, including baltimore orioles, great horned owls, and emperor penguins, and expands on information, such as their eggs, their habitat, and their specific anatomy. Continuous throughout the book, each new page states "can you guess whose eggs these are?", with a picture of the eggs and a few brief sentences to describe the unknown bird. On the following page, the bird is revealed, with two-full paged illustrations showing the bird and its' habitat and more information about the revealed bird.

I like how this book provides a variety of information about birds, inspiring children to pick a certain bird and dig deeper in further research/reading. I also like how the illustrations add to the depth of the learning in the book. The illustrations are very detailed and show other animals in the specific habitat, as well as drawings of both adult and young birds.

GENRE: Informational (non-fiction)

MEDIA: India ink, colored ink

USES:
(1) This book could be used as a reference for students who are researching specific birds because it talks about a variety of birds in different habitats.
(2) Students could create their own "guess whose egg this is" book using birds they choose! ( )

Hatch! by Roxie Munro

Roxie Munro’s interactive book about eggs is a fun choice for story times, especially with an older or small group that can take time to pick out all the details in the pictures.

The introduction explains that the book will introduce birds and their eggs in a question and answer format and includes a “did you know?” quiz section, with the answers included in the copyright information on the facing page.

The first spread of each pair shows a clutch of eggs and asks “Can you guess whose eggs these are?” facing a big colored speech bubble that gives clues to the birds’ identity. Both of these are set against a plain cream background. The following spread gives the answer and describes the bird against a detailed illustration of the birds, their habitat, and a variety of animals hidden in the landscape. A list of also included animals is placed below the main text, giving additional seek and find fun. Featured birds include Baltimore orioles, great horned owls, emperor penguins, mallard ducks, cactus wrens, black-legged kittiwakes, ostriches, ruby-throated hummingbirds, and bald eagles.

The final page includes further resources about birds, both print and online, and a list of “fun bird words to learn.”

Verdict: This book is best for an elementary age audience – some of those clues are hard! But I’ve used it successfully with a preschool audience, shortening the chunks of text and inviting the kids to find the animals hidden in the landscapes. A fun book about a variety of birds and their eggs with an intriguing interactive component. Recommended.

ISBN: 978-0761458821; Published February 2011 by Marshall Cavendish; Borrowed from the library; Purchased for the library