The Enormous Egg

Yep, it's a whopper!

This Emu egg is going in my nephew's Easter basket on Sunday, along with a copy of "The Enormous Egg" by Oliver Butterworth. The story of this great kid's book goes like this:

The hen belonging to the Twitchell family of Freedom, New Hampshire, laid an enormous egg. Nate Twitchell, age twelve, faithfully helped the mother hen to turn her egg so it would be warmed evenly all around. Most people laughed at Nate after the egg sat unhatched for six long weeks. However, Dr. Zeimer, a paleontologist from the National Museum in Washington, D.C., took Nate and his egg seriously. He arrived in his pajamas to see the newly hatched "baby chicken" and to identify it as a triceratops, the only dinosaur ever seen by humans. The Twitchells named their triceratops Uncle Beazley. And soon the world descended on Freedom, New Hampshire, and tromped on the Twitchells' flower beds. Grass, Uncle Beazley's favorite food, was soon in short supply as he grew at an alarming rate.

Dr. Zeimer arranged for Nate and his dinosaur to be transported to Washington where Uncle Beazley was housed at the zoo. However, a Congressional committee, alarmed at the dinosaur's expensive menu, declared him un-American and proposed to do away with him. By pleading his cause on television, Nate rallied the nation to the rescue of Uncle Beazley. Demonstrations and letters to Congress persuaded legislators to do the will of the people. Uncle Beazley was to munch happily at the zoo for many years to come. Nate returned to Freedom, New Hampshire, a hero. Great dino book for kids!