EGGS MARK THE SPOT
by Mary Jane Auch & illustrated by Mary Jane Auch
Eggs Mark the Spot ($15.95, March 15, 1996; 32 pp.; 0-8234-1242-3): A companion to The Easter Egg Farm (1992), this one places Pauline (a hen that can concentrate on a likeness and duplicate it on the next egg she lays) and Mrs. Pennywort at an art museum where they foil an art thief. That's the thin part of the plot; the joy is in Pauline's laying of eggs after staring at famous paintings, a hilarious sequence of portraits of Mrs. Pennywort through the eyes of Matisse, Picasso, Klee, Van Gogh, etc. The results are not egg-zactly what Mrs. Pennywort egg-spects, but children will side with Pauline—she's a real artist. (Picture book. 5-8)