Sonderbooks Book Review of

Hank Finds an Egg

by Rebecca Dudley

Hank Finds an Egg

by Rebecca Dudley

Review posted November 19, 2013.
Peter Pauper Press, White Plains, New York, 2013. 40 pages.
Starred Review

Hank Finds an Egg is a wordless picture book. What makes it utterly charming are the pictures. They are photographs taken of a completely handcrafted scene.

Hank is a little bear, stitched from felt. He finds an egg on the forest floor. The entire forest was made by the artist, with elements that will be important in the plot. We see the nest, up high in a tree, with two eggs still remaining. Hank tries out different ideas for getting the egg back up to its nest, with no luck until the happy ending.

Rebecca Dudley doesn’t change Hank’s facial expression for any of the pictures (except closed eyes when he’s asleep), yet through his body language she manages to convey plucky determination, concentrated effort, pensiveness, and final joy with the result.

The book shows many steps of each process, giving a feeling of motion. There’s so much to talk about here. Without pre-printed words, children will have so much fun telling you what they see.

An adorably cute book without words that will get kids talking.