Small, Speckled Egg: with a giant fold-out map

By Author / Illustrator

Mary Auld, Anna Terreros-Martin

Genre

Non Fiction

Age range(s)

Publisher

Mama Makes Books

ISBN

9781739774875

Format

Hardback

Published

15-08-2023

Synopsis

Unfold a world of discovery. Small, Speckled Egg takes young readers from the small and familiar to new areas of knowledge where they really have to think big! It starts with an egg that hatches into one of the most impressive birds on the planet - an Arctic tern. Watch her grow, learn to fly, and start her long migration from the Arctic to Antarctica and back again. A journey she does every year of her life.

Her lifecycle is turned into this easy-to-read story and the beautiful illustrations transport you to chilly polar landscapes. Additional captions are packed with information for able readers to expand on new areas of knowledge. The book touches on KS1 primary science topics: the lifecycle of a bird, food chains, migration, seasons and polar regions.

At the back of the book there is a giant fold-out map that includes a fun I-Spy game to take children back into the book to find the polar animals. A brilliant addition to any home or school library with lots of detail that will be returned to again and again.

Look out for more science-based picture books in the Start Small, Think Big series including Little, Brown Nut.

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Reviews

Small, Speckled Egg is the first book in the Start Small, Think Big series, a collection of books which take an object and follow its journey through life. This book follows the life-cycle of the egg and what is inside - an Arctic tern. We then follow the tern's life from chick, learning to survive through to being an adult and starting the process again.

The book takes on both a story and factual element. You can follow the story in bold at the top of each page as well as finding out extra factual information on every page, a feature I really liked and have read both ways. The book is beautifully laid out with exquisite illustrations from Anna Terreros-Martin and easy to follow information. I particularly liked the compass at the top of each page showing which month we are in following the egg's journey.

Each book comes with a giant fold-out map at the back of the book showing a snapshot of what you have read plus an animal i-spy. This will be a fantastic addition to the classroom and can't wait to share this with my class.

28 pages / Reviewed by Lauren Maidman, teacher