The Talking Eggs

One of my absolute favorite books when I was little was the book the Talking Eggs. Its a book for older children, not a book for three and four year olds. I didn't start reading it till I was about six, but it instantly became one of my favorites.

Here is a quick summary of the book from amazon.com
                In this adaptation of a Creole folktale, Blanche is kind, loving and patient, but her older sister Rose  takes after their mean, sneaky mother. One day Blanche befriends a hideous old "aunty" on a path near her home and is rewarded with magic eggs. Of course, Rose and the girls' mother are beside themselves with envy, and Rose sets out to snag some eggs of her own. But greedy Rose's cruel nature gets her into trouble. She torments the old lady, grabs the wrong eggs and ends up "angry, sore and stung." Pinkney's exquisitely wrought illustrations are close cousins to those in his Caldecott Honor Book Mirandy and Brother Wind , with similar woodlands and soft farmyard settings of the rural South. When the magic begins, the witch takes off her head, dressed-up rabbits do the Virginia reel and eggs begin to chatter. There are some spectacular scenes here. Ages 4-8.

In this book many different "secret messages" are conveyed to the reader, the biggest being greed is punished and virtue is rewarded. Blanche's kind nature and hard work throughout her life brings her wealth and riches while her mother and Rose end up with no money because of their greed and past abuse of Blanche. I don't disagree that these things should happen, but in the real world it is certainly not uncommon for greed to be rewarded and virtue to be punished. Another theme that is embedded in this book is the "American Dream", Blanche ultimately captures this dream and goes from a poor black girl in rural Louisiana to a "grand lady" in the city. She is able to seize the dream because of her hard work while Rose, who feels entitled to riches, captures nothing and stays in their cabin in the woods.

Another more negative message that I can see in the book is the message that women can't find wealth on their own. Granted that I was very difficult for three black women in the south during the late nineteenth century to find any sort of wealth, but to children reading this book, most would have no idea of that challenge. They could only see Blanche gaining wealth through finding a mysterious woman in the woods and benefiting from her unusual wealth.