Discover how a gosling hatches into the world, step by step, in this irresistibly cute and funny nonfiction picture book.
Book Spotlight
How to Hatch
★ “In an exhilarating read….the book will have readers cheering as they learn—and maybe thinking about their own arrival into the world, too.”
—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★ “A scientifically sound and artfully executed introduction to avian biology imbued with both wonder and accuracy.”
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★ “A charming and informative look at life inside an egg that will work beautifully for read-alouds.”
—School Library Journal, starred review
“An adorable and illuminating story that will appeal to a wide age range.”
—Booklist
A Note From the Author
While this book explores the hatching of goslings in the wild, I have observed birds hatching in a very different setting, but one that is just as magical. When I was in kindergarten, my classroom got an incubator full of duck eggs. One evening while accompanying my mother to a meeting at the school, my teacher waved me into my hushed and empty classroom to see the first duckling stumbling out of its shell, scraggly, wet, decidedly un-ducklike, and very much alive. Something stirs deep within us when we witness everyday wonders, when we care for small and precious things. I have observed this as an educator through many years of hatching projects.
When faced with scientific phenomena, children are unending in their quest to know why. To know how. To know what and when. They are intently aware that a mystery is unfolding. Inside. Unseen. The mystery of eggs that quiver, then still, then quiver again before cracking open. The mystery of eggs that don’t hatch and eggs that do. The what-is-inside? And the when-will-it-come-out?
Grown-ups, use this book to bring the child inside the shell during the days, hours, and minutes before a bird becomes a bird. And use this book to inspire new wonderings and more questions. Hatching projects end, but goslings keep growing—and so does a child’s curiosity.
In wonder-ful learning,
Sara Holly Ackerman
Take a peek inside!
