TWO EGGS, PLEASE.

A clever, minimally verbal introduction to “same, but different” that takes too long to make its point. Each animal customer that walks into Lewin’s brightly lit, exuberantly drawn diner orders two eggs, but each wants them done a different way: sunny side up, over easy, scrambled, even (for an alligator’s pet boa) raw. But the customers enter one at a time, most taking up a whole spread to do so, and the pace is further slowed by spreads in which all sit there sharing the same thought: “Different.” Finally the counter attendant shouts out all the orders in sequence—in plain language rather than restaurant jargon, which may disappoint readers hoping for another Frank and Ernest (1988)—then delivers them, cooked (or not) to order, demonstrating “Different . . . but the same.” It’s a difficult, abstract concept that has engaged every philosopher since Plato’s day; children may be able to get a handle on it here, but they’ll need both a large fund of patience, and an adult to fill in the gaps. (Picture book. 4-7)