Hey there, fellow picture book lovers!
It’s Friday, and you know what that means… 😊
I have the perfect book this week.  It caters to my nostalgia in a week where my youngest turned 22 as well as to spring because it involves nesting birds, as well as to Mother’s Day this weekend… because it has a mother in it 😊
Look at me – checking all the boxes!
It’s an older book – one I read as a child so we’re talking ancient! 😊 – and is one of my All Time Favorites!  Prepare for fun!
Flap Your Wings
Written & Illustrated By: P.D. Eastman
Random House, 1969, Fiction
Suitable For: ages 3-8
Themes/Topics: assumptions, non-traditional family, unconditional love, responsibility
Opening: (this is actually the first three pages.)
“An egg lay in the path.
A boy came down the path. Â He saw the egg. Â “Someone might step on that egg and break it,” he said.
He looked around.
He saw flamingos and frogs, and turtles and alligators. Â “Whose egg is this?” he called. Â But no one answered.”
Brief Synopsis: Â A little boy finds an egg. Â He doesn’t want it to get damaged, so he looks around until he finds the nest and carefully puts it back. Â When Mr. and Mrs. Bird come home, they are surprised to find an egg in their nest… it wasn’t there when they left! Â But Mr. Bird says that if an egg is in their nest it must be their egg, so they must take care of it. Â So they do… with very surprising results!
Links To Resources:  Ideas And Activities For Guided Reading, Incubation & Embryology Activities, use with An Egg Is Quiet (from PPBF link list), talk about what kind of animals, insects and reptiles lay eggs and how the eggs are the same and different.
Why I Like This Book:  This book is fun to read as a picture book, but is also an I Can Read type book that is very accessible to new readers.  The pictures are delightful – Mr. and Mrs. Bird’s expressions are very entertaining.  But I really love the story because it doesn’t go where you would expect.  It’s funny.  And it’s a great example of what agents, editors and reviewers mean when they talk about re-readability.  This book delighted me as a child, and delighted my children in their turn.  I’ve read it so many times that even now, years since I last read it to my kids, I can recite almost the whole book.  It’s fun every time 🙂
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 🙂
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific links (and any other info you feel like filling out 🙂 ) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!!! And a Happy Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there – you make the world go ’round! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
A classic that’s still perfect! Happy Mother’s Day!
I totally love this book! 🙂 Happy Mother’s Day to you too, Patricia! Give a pat to the orange pups 🙂
I have to pick this one up. I have vague memories of it. Happy Mother’s Day!
You will love reminding yourself of it, Sarah! It’s so fun!
Holy schmoley! Now THAT’S a classic (and not nearly as distressing as Are You My Mother?)!
Yes. A Classic. Exactly. Not an ancient tome 🙂 Have you read this one Mike? It’s safe. There are no cats! 🙂
Oh, yes, I like this one!
What a perfect choice! I am not familiar with this book — would have been a senior in high school. The story sounds wonderful!
Oh my goodness! You totally have to read it, Pat! It’s so entertaining! 🙂
This has been a favorite around here forever! Everybody still laughs, and ‘flaps their wings’!
Oh, I know, Linda! Isn’t that the most fun? 🙂
I’m going to have to check this out. I vaguely remember it. Happy Mother’s Day!
Yes, you must, Maria! So entertaining! Plus you can slip in a little exercise time by helping Junior learn to flap his wings! 🙂
Susanna, I’ve read much PD Eastman, but not this one. Thanks for the suggestion. What a cute and timely theme!
There are other P.D. Eastman titles I like, Tiffany, but this one is hands down my favorite! Tell me what you think if you read it 🙂
This sounds adorable! I just reserved it at my library and learned only 12 of the 33 of this title are available. What a tribute that it is still being checked out so often. My guess is that the egg was NOT laid by a bird. I look forward to soon finding out!
You’re right, Carole – both about the timeless appeal of this story and your guess about the egg! But I will not tell you what it is… you’ll have to read to find out! 🙂
I remember this book!!!! But I don’t remember the ending. Now I have to go out and find it and add it to my childhood collection. Thank you for this trip down memory lane!
The end is awesome, Jilanne! Skip on down to the library for a copy, load your pockets up with chocolate, and enjoy! 🙂
I wonder what hatches… I hope it’s a doggie. Wait. What? Well, I do love doggie stories.
Love and licks,
Cupcake
It is not a doggie, Cupcake, but it does have sharp teeth… 🙂
PD Eastman is ABSOLUTELY a favorite of mine! I love Go Do Go and You Are My Mother – and I recognize these characters from his The Best Nest! I have never read this one though – will DEFINITELY have to change that!
I am also particularly fond of Go, Dog, Go!, Joanne, but Flap Your Wings is my most favorite :). I’m not sure this is the same Mr. and Mrs. Bird from The Best Nest – I think it’s another bird couple 🙂 – but they’ve got their own situation to sort out! 🙂