The Egg

A wordless lost-and-found story about nontraditional families.

The Egg is an imaginative and unusual story about a bird and a child, and how they become a family. The wordless story opens with a crane caring lovingly for an egg. During a storm, a gust of wind blows the egg from its nest. Despite searching far and wide, the crane can't find the lost egg anywhere. Heartbroken, the crane spots something - an egg! Not its own, but since this egg is also alone, the crane rescues it to safety.

When the egg hatches, the little one inside is - unexpectedly - a human baby. No matter their differences, the crane loves and cares for the child, adopting it into an avian life. When they take flight together, this unusual duo encounters other birds with their young ones - the babies all a diverse array of creatures, showing that families come in all shapes and sizes.

This whimsical story is open to interpretation and imagination, but above all imparts the message that a loving family can be whatever we make it.

AGES: 3 to 7

About the Author

Geraldo Valerio is a children's book author and illustrator whose books have been published in Canada, the United States and many other countries around the world, including Brazil, China, France, Portugal, and the UK. He lives in Toronto, Ontario.