Hank Finds an Egg

Dudley has created the artwork for her wordless debut by crafting a small forest creature, setting him in a handmade forest full of cut-out ferns and dead leaves, and then photographing him in various poses. Hank looks a bit like a baby chimpanzee, or perhaps a baby chimpanzee in a bear costume; his black bead eyes and diminutive snout peer out from a hooded suit. Hank finds an egg on the forest floor that's fallen from a nest in a branch high over his head. After several unsuccessful attempts to climb the tree, Hank wraps the egg up and gives it to the mother hummingbird, who carries it up herself. He's rewarded when the egg hatches along with its clutchmates, and three small hummingbirds dance in the air in front of him. Aside from Hank's trouble climbing the tree, the story is free of threat or conflict and suitable for the very youngest readers. Delicious details like Hank's twig ladder and carefully moss-wrapped egg show that Dudley is firmly in touch with her inner child. This is an artist to watch. Ages 3-up. (May)

K-Gr 2—This wordless picture book is set in Dudley's fanciful Storywoods forest. With photographs of dioramas, she tells the story of Hank, a bearlike stuffed animal who finds an egg that has fallen from its nest. He tries various means to return it to the nest but cannot quite reach. A log he rolls up to the trunk doesn't lift him high enough and neither does the ladder he crafts together with twigs and twine. So, he carries the egg off with him to his campsite and tucks in for the night. Dudley has done a particularly good job with the lighting in the charming campsite scenes. The next morning Hank carries the egg back to its tree, wraps it in foliage, and watches as the mother hummingbird flies it home. The eggs eventually hatch, and Hank has three new friends. What is most unique about this book is how the setting is constructed. Dudley uses felt, paper, stone, and a variety of other materials to create her dreamy world. This is a book that is suitable in a one-on-one setting, as readers will want to take time to look again and again at the fine detail in the photos.—Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA