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The Great Eggscape! Book Review

Posted on by Econogal

A Storybook for Ages 3-8

Cover of The Great Eggscape depicting three eggs running down a grocery aisle.The Great Eggscape! is a delightfully silly children’s book written by Jory John. A dozen eggs run around the grocery store in an elaborate game of hide and seek. Young children can easily connect with the theme. Since the eggs dye themselves during the story there is an easy tie into Easter week activities. Thus, the book fit into my categorization of an Easter book. But The Great Eggscape is non-religious. However, the message of leaving no egg behind is meaningful.

Lead Character

Shel is the only egg not romping through the grocery store. He prefers “alone time” and misses out on the coloring bath. Meanwhile, the other eggs from the carton decide to make him leave the container by hiding in various sections of the grocery store. (Much to the displeasure of at least one grumpy vegetable.) And as time ticks by, Shel worries and starts on a hunt for the hidden eggs. Thus, his friends’ plan works.

Subtle Subtext in The Great Eggscape!

Hidden among the eggs are several learning opportunities. Time is captured on an analog clock. Shel lines up his fellow eggs to make sure the full dozen is there. So, even though there is not an actual count, readers can easily perform this simplest of math functions – if they choose to.

But when little egg Meg is missing Shel stops the rest from quitting the search until all are found. With the help of Greg (the egg decorated like the universe) and the others, Shel discovers Meg’s hiding place. Persistence and teamwork are just as important as having fun with friends.

Parents can use the various illustrations for additional learning opportunities.

 

A little Adobe Photoshop of my Own…..

Illustrations

Pete Oswald is the noted illustrator and recognized on the book’s exterior cover. But further details on the artwork are just inside. Saba Joshaghani used scanned pencil sketches based on Oswald’s original artwork to create the interior pages. Adobe Photoshop was the software utilized to paint the images. This remarkable feat was produced in Italy.

Finally, two pages of stickers can be detached from the book and used to decorate eggs-just in time for Easter.

An Unusual Easter for the Year 2020

Posted on by Econogal

Easter basket with dyed eggs and plush bunnyThe year 2020 brings forth an unusual Easter. Here in the United States many locations have enacted a stay-at–home decree. The regulation and enforcement vary from state to state and even from town to town. Indeed, individual families also carry out differing practices.

In an agricultural based economy such as that found over the vast Great Plains, many people work in essential businesses. Animals need to be fed. Spring planting can’t be delayed. So all around my small town many are going about their work.

But, Covid-19 has brought about a disruption in life even here. Our churches are not congregating. Nor are our schools in session. Playground equipment at parks is cordoned off. Due to my status only the former directly affects me.

Unusual Easter 2020

Last Sunday, Palm Sunday ushered in an unusual Easter week. No church attendance meant no waving of the palms by the Sunday school classes at the start of church service. A tradition I loved as a Sunday school teacher.

Spring like weather brought forth tulips, hyacinths and even the hops. But no city wide Easter egg hunt and no Good Friday community service put on by our town’s ministerial alliance. So it was not too surprising that by the end of the week I became a bit blue.

Fortunately, Good Friday turned out to be good. And even though the spring shower formed to the East, the first rainbow of the season brought a fitting end to a day. Friday started out teary but changed to one of joyful preparation for an unusual Easter.

Family Togetherness at a Safe Distance

My niece lives a mile away, but due to this nasty virus afflicting the world and an abundance of caution I have seen her only once in the last few months. At that time a window separated us as she dropped off some farm fresh eggs in exchange for some Econogal’s Granola and strawberry-blueberry jam.

But we talk on the phone from time to time. This unusual Easter week more often because of her plan to share the holiday even though apart. She is putting a meal together to take to her grandmother. The food will be left on the porch much like the eggs. My contribution is dinner rolls from a Bread Illustrated recipe.

The trip will take three hours or so. The distance is about 100 miles one way. The extra time will be spent at a quick stop in a small town 30 miles from her parents. Again the visiting will be through a window-in this case a car window. Grandparents want to see their grandkids on holidays if at all possible.

Extra precautions due to Covid-19

This distancing may seem extreme. But, my mother-in-law is well into her 80s and we want her around for years to come. She is an incredible person still active in one facet of the family agribusiness. Furthermore, we want to keep my niece healthy. She is expecting another little one soon. You may remember the Train Quilt made for the younger of her two children. So extra precautions are in order this unusual Easter.

My official contribution is dinner rolls, but I have a few surprises as well. I have sugar cookie dough ready to roll out. My Easter cookie cutters have been dug out of the cookie cutter drawer. I have enough powdered sugar to make a buttercream icing and enough dye left over from the Easter egg dyeing to make colorful frosted cookies.

Truly I think dyeing the eggs lifted my spirits the most. However, I also enjoyed putting together surprise packages to keep my niece’s kids entertained on the drive they will undertake on an unusual Easter morning. For those of us that are Christians, Easter springs forth eternal life. I am grateful for the renewal each year.

During this terrible world-wide pandemic, find ways to celebrate life and living. We cannot predict the future. But we can live to the best of our ability in today’s uncertainty. There will be no large family gathering this Easter for us, but there will be lots of shared love.