The Emperor's Egg: Read and Wonder

Candlewick's press "Read and Wonder" series occupies a special place in our household: these books combine science with wonder, great, elaborate language with beautiful art, and cuddle time with many fun learning conversations. We own about a half dozen of these books. The Emperor's Egg was the first one we bought, and like all the others, it's a treasure. The language is accessible to both my 2- and 4-year-olds. The stories draw them in, and are great starting points for conversations. In one reading of this book, we discussed geography (the continent of Antartica, its climate and comparison to the our climates), biology (birds, and how penguins are abnormalities because the fathers sit on the eggs, and how penguins, kiwis and ostriches are all flightless, in contrast to other birds who fly), and mathematics (2 months, or 60 days without food: let's count: 1, 2, 3 ... 60!) I highly recommend this entire series: it's rare to find a book that preschoolers request over and over, that parents love to read, and that teaches so much, in so little space, all while being just plain out beautiful to read and look at.

It’s mom! She starts trumpeting “hello” and the father penguin starts trumpeting “hello” and the chick whistles. The racket goes on for hours, and it really does sound as if they’re extremely pleased to see each other. ~ The Emporer’s Egg There’s something special about waddling penguins, newborn babies, and doting dads. Martin Jenkins, author of Chameleons Are Cool and Grandma Elephant’s in Charge, combines them to add another irresistible animal-centered picture book to the Read and Wonder series. Through Jenkins’ enthusiastic and conversational writing style young and old readers will fall in love with the biggest penguins in the world. Their unconventional, gentle, and efficient tag team-style cooperation toward making a family offer subliminal inspiration to us humans as we strive for a higher level of selflessness and commitment. Jane Chapman’s lifelike illustrations and Jenkins’ clever footnotes pull the story together for an authentic nonfiction experience. If you enjoyed National Geographic’s March of the Penguins, you’ll enjoy The Emporer’s Egg. ~ Anna

Narrative on the process of a penguin egg with kid friendly words and illustrations. Easy comprehension illustrations and words that tell the facts. The Author's use of sick vs. regurgitated made for instant comprehension. I still introduced the latter to my students. Strongly recommended by this teacher!

Very educational novel for the young. Please read to make yourself and your children to be enlightened. A great read

This is a non-fiction book written in simple language and with engaging illustrations. My great nephews loved the book and the precious stuffed penguins (an adult and a baby penguin) which I gave with the book.

The illustrations are nice but the text is so-so. It has promise but doesn't quite get there. For example, in one sentence the author writes that the mother "get's sick" in the baby's mouth and says it's "yuk". That's a poor way to describe regurgitation as a feeding method. Makes it seem, well, yuk instead of natural. I also agree a bit with some of the other comments about the text being a bit "sexist" about the suffering dad and lollygagging mom. They both have jobs to do with their inherent difficulties. Mom has to dodge predators in her search for food so she can bring it back to the chick. Still a nice book with some interesting facts.

With adorable pictures and interesting text the story of the Emperor penguin unfolds. The role of the father penguin caring for the young is compared with the love of a human father. It is a sweet story.

A wonderful book that engages and teaches young children the life cycle of the Emperor penguin! Kept a class of about 8 homeschoolers ranging from 2-7 entertained and engaged!

Bello, istruttivo e dolce È la tenera storia di come nasce un Pinguino imperatore e della duro lavoro che devono svolgere i genitori in ambiente freddo e ostile riscaldato dal loro amore. Bellissima i disegni. Il formato grande conquista anche i più piccoli lettori

We loved this book with the information that the father looks after the egg while the mom goes for food. I bought the stuffed father penguin with the attached baby as well, and my six year old granddaughter just loved them both!

An awesome book...the info is neither too elaborate nor too brief....its perfect for children

Great book, nice story. Purchased Kindle/online version.

The story of the Emperor penguin is amazing. The book is eminently suitable for parents to read to young children, the language is straightforward and is accompanied by beautiful illustrations, but is also suitable for older children to read for themselves. The information about the Emperor penguin is so interesting and would definitely appeal to both older children and adults.