The Mouse and the Egg

In what is essentially a neo folk tale, Grandfather and Grandmother are unfailingly supplied with brown eggs for tea --- that is until Grandfather wishes for 'a different sort of egg'. Their speckled hen obligingly lays a golden one: but what use is a golden egg? The subtlety and depth of Krystyna Turska's peasant-style illustrations draw the reader into this moral story for which Mayne has adopted a deliberately mannered prose style: an ideal complement of words and pictures. Both text and illustrations are contained within borders and friezes which serve to embellish and harmonise the two. A picture book of enduring quality: strongly recommended. All ages.