JOHNNY'S EGG

How, that is, Johnny learns to break an egg--which might be the ultimate demonstration that 1) there's nothing someone won't write a book about; and 2) you can't learn anything by doing it. True, breaking an egg ""without making a mess"" takes practice, and it can be daunting to youngsters a lot bigger than preschooler Johnny. (It may even be one of those skills that's better postponed until it comes easier.) One way or other, though, it's not the production it's made out to be here--via a dramatic layout, a pre-egg-breaking sniff and lick, and a text that treats Johnny (""eyes shining like bright brown marbles"") as adorable for wanting to do this grown-up thing all by himself. Any child fed this kind of malarkey would be right to look askance at books.