Shake a Leg, Egg [Hardcover]

From celebrated author-illustrator Kurt Cyrus comes a playful and whimsical picture book that celebrates the excitement and anticipation of a soon-to-be-born baby.

It’s springtime, and the pond is bursting with new life. There are beaver pups, heron hatchlings, and lots and lots of ducklings. Everyone is out and about, swimming, flapping, chirping, and quacking—except for one family of geese. When, oh when, will their last little one break on out and join the waiting world?Kurt Cyrus has illustrated numerous acclaimed picture books celebrating the natural world, includingWhat in the World?: Numbers in Natureby Nancy Raines Day;Mammoths on the Moveby Lisa Wheeler; and his ownTadpole RexandThe Voyage of Turtle Rex. Kurt lives with his wife in McMinnville, Oregon. Visit him at KurtCyrus.com.A laggard gosling is encouraged to leave its shell and join its family. This perfectly executed tale of a slowpoke begins with a title- page image of four goslings surrounding an egg. On the next page, there's a striking image:, a close-up of the mother Canada goose's head, poking at the last unbroken egg in the nest. "Hello in there! / Are you aware…." The next spread pulls back to show mother, eggs, and other goslings, all clearly impatient. She continues, "how long we've all / been waiting?" Cyrus then moves high overhead to display the whole scene: the nest on the beach, the goose family (gander, too), coots in the water, "nosy crows" atop a tree. He goes on to show the nest from a variety of angles as the mother goose continues to urge her nestling to emerge. The rhythmic text, full of repeating sounds, reads aloud beautifully. Knowledgeable readers will recognize other waterside residents: beavers, blue herons, turtles, and a dragonfly. Varying perspectives and the contrast between the pale yellows and tans of the nest and the green of the surroundings make each spread a slƒ*