The Quail's Egg: A Folk Tale from Sri Lanka

This perky cumulative tale from Sri Lanka, part of the Folk Tales of the World series, is about a quail whose egg falls into the crevice of a rock. The stonemason refuses to crack open the rock and retrieve the egg, so the quail asks the pig to trample the mason's field to persuade him. The quail continues asking various creatures for help, and hits pay dirt when she asks the cat to scare the mouse that will run up the leg of an elephant . . . until the quail's egg is free. Troughton's lilting tale is nicely offset by her watercolors, showing the chain of events in a vivid setting that is true to the story's origins. Ages 4-8. (Oct.)