EGG DECORATING

A basic guide to the “FUN-damentals” of egg crafts.

A cheerful blue egg (who is ungendered) sporting a half apron and an artsy beret breaks down a method for hard-boiling eggs with an adult’s help, then goes on to guide readers through the steps for executing increasingly elaborate egg decorating projects. Children will learn how to make dyes from food coloring or fruits and vegetables and how to achieve various decorative effects, including “egg people” designs and animal designs (the “egg chick” concept seems a bit meta). The book also provides suggestions for displaying decorated eggs, using them in games, and, yes, turning them into tasty treats. Materials used range from acrylic paint and googly eyes to onion skins and glow-in-the-dark glue. The written instructions are simple and concise. They frequently begin with “lay newspaper over your workspace” (good advice!) and include important safety notes. Zoo’s diagrammatic illustrations are easy to follow with numbered directions, spot art laid out in panels, and labeled, graphic overviews of required supplies; however, the minimal palette of black, white, and blue fails to give young handicrafters enough sense of the art form’s creative possibilities. Readers may want to keep a more visually stimulating handbook, like Lindstrom’s Beautiful Eggs (2021), handy on the worktable for inspiration.

Simple and practical, although the visuals underperform.