Mary Veronicas Egg

Feathery colored-pencil illustrations set a cozy, intimate tone for this sweetly wry tale of a girl who finds and cares for an orphaned egg. Mary Veronica is convinced there's something special inside the egg--""Maybe a platypus, or even a python"")--while her sisters toss their own speculations into the mix: older and disdainful Mary Louise says, ""That's a rotten egg,"" while younger and gullible Mary Margaret repeatedly contends, ""It's a dinosaur egg. Can I have it?"" Mary Veronica's beloved egg doesn't win her the gold ribbon for Most Unusual Pet at the school pet fair, but its contents (a duckling) do eventually win a special place in the girl's heart. Nethery's (Hannah and Jack) ingenuous tale is winningly told; her dry humor pervades in the snappy repartee between the sisters and in smaller touches like the ""Egg on Board"" sign that Mary Veronica tapes onto the school bus window. Yalowitz (Somebody Loves You, Mr. Hatch) makes effective use of line in his airy and delicately shaded illustrations, echoing the smooth oval of Mary Veronica's egg in the softly rounded shapes of the characters. This affectionate homage to the rewards of patience and perseverance is an altogether agreeable outing. Ages 4-7. (Mar.)