Hatch! Hardcover – January 5, 2012

Birds are a fascinating species. From the way they communicate to the way they rear their young, these feathered friends all have something in common and it's evident in Hatch! Perfect to introduce school-aged children to a good variety while teaching contrast, comparison, and how to keep a science journal.

Roxie Munro has created an interesting, multi-leveled nonfiction text. The question and answer format with detailed illustrations provides a perfect model text for writer's workshop in primary and early elementary grades. Roxie Munro's book is full of surprising facts about birds and is embedded with definitions and explanations of terms that easily extend student's bird vocabulary.On each answer page, her illustration presents an identifiable habitat where she identifies other animals that live there. Her addition of "Fun Bird Words To Learn" adds to the wealth of information in the text. This book is a must for a well stocked nonfiction read aloud classroom library!

My little one grabbed the book and hugged it to his chest! Thanks to Roxie Munroe for creating such a wonderful book and gift that thrilled my little cousin.

The pictures are absolutely stunning in this book! This is a fun book to read because it's a guessing game to guess which bird comes from what egg. Lots of great facts and I learned some things too!

SUMMARY: This book presents an illustrated egg with facts on a two page spread. Then when you turn the page, you find out the name of the bird and see it illustrated in its natural habitat along with other animals you might see there.ILLUSTRATIONS: The illustrations were created in ink. They are nicely done and colorful. They are a bit too busy, however, especially for the younger readers.THE GOOD: This was a fun way to present information about birds. You see the egg first with some facts that may help you guess which bird the egg belongs to. And seeing the birds in their very different habitats was enlightening.THE NOT AS GOOD: The information was presented as one fat paragraph on each page. It looked pretty in its information "cloud," but for younger readers, it would be easier to read if the facts were spread out with bullets next to each fact. The eggs were all presented as the same size even though they vary greatly in real life. It would have been nice to see the eggs shown on the page in actual size.AGE RECOMMENDATION: Grades 2-5

My second-grader was really excited about the guessing-game aspect of this book, and he loved quizzing himself (and then me) on which bird might be inside each egg. So that angle was a real win for us. However, the additional information included about each revealed mystery bird was too much for my child's attention span (and mine, as someone reading the book aloud). I don't think it was necessary, either, since plenty of information was already included in the guessing part. While you might say that it doesn't hurt anything for there to be extra text, this is not necessarily true when you're talking about a book to be read aloud. Some kids compulsively want to hear everything on a page, which means this book works more as a reference or text book than, say, a bedtime read. It would take a long time to read this whole book to a child! I had also hoped this book would work for my preschooler as well, but it really is aimed for older children (about 6-8) as it says.I honestly would have liked the book better if there had been less of it; if it had leaned more toward "cute" and "fun" and less toward "educational" and "comprehensive."

This is one of those rare gems of a book that caters to a multi-aged audience. Meaning, I could read it to my 4.5yr old and my 7yr old and they both enjoyed it, on different levels. The text alone may have been a bit wordy/beyond what my 4 yr old would want. But, the feature where the reader is to search for the listed 4 other animals in the habitat captivated her. My 7 yr old enjoyed listening to the clues to determine who was in the egg. And I learned a thing or two I didn't know!The author chose a nice variety of birds too, from song to raptor to aquatic, we never lost interest. The illustrations are very well done and the book is a generous size allowing the reader to really appreciate them.The only reason I rate this 4 vs. 5 stars is that it's not one that they have asked for since the first reading. My 4.5yr old paged through it on her own when it first arrived. Then I chose to read it (it wasn't requested)and although everyone enjoyed it, it doesn't appear that it'll be one that's frequently read or looked through. So, perhaps look for it at the library first before deciding to add it to your own bookshelf.

Ah, the magic of live. Who out there doesn't have little ones who are fascinated by thought of something live popping out of an egg?Roxie Munro's "Hatch" is a great book for young, inquisitive minds out there. They're likely to be fascinated by the big, colorful and bold illustrations and narrative style.It's probably a good for ages 3-7. I think older kids might not be as fascinated or taken in by it, unless, of course, they're animal lovers.

Hatch! is a lovely and informative book about different kinds of birds and the eggs which they hatch from.Within this book we see many kinds of birds, starting with an egg on a page to guess what the bird is followed by the bird in its natural habitat. This is a great way to introduce the birds in the book as it helps the children think about where birds come from. The writing on each page is a good length which makes it informative and detailed but not too much to read.The illustrations in the book are very good with each bird being shown in a cartoon style with a realistic background behind it. It is brilliant how the environment also shows other birds or creatures that live their as it could extent the learning from the book and is fun to look for.This is a great book to learn about birds and see the different environments each of them lives in.

A really interesting book which makes you think and also teaches you facts about well known birds. Really well drawn with exquisite detail that shows the male/female colourings beautifully. A great resource for all those parents who are now having to homeschool!

This beautifully illustrated book on birds and eggs is the most engaging that I have read. It's a volume to return to time and again, that will enthrall readers young and old. A good find for young learners during an Easter Egg Hunt.

Eggs and hatchings, kids will like it.