Review - The Great Eggscape!

The Great Eggscape! (The Food Group #2.5)
by Jory John
illustrated by Pete Oswald
Date: 2020
Publisher: HarperCollins
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Based on the #1 New York Times bestselling picture book sensation The Good Egg, Jory John and Pete Oswald present: The Great Eggscape!

The Great Eggscape is when the Good Egg and his pals escape their carton and drop into the store for a morning of fun, enjoyed by everybody.

Well, almost everybody.

Shel (an egg) isn’t a huge fan of group activities, especially when he’s made to be “It” for a game of hide-and-seek. Nevertheless, Shel doesn’t want to let his friends down, so he reluctantly plays, anyway. But after a morning of hiding and seeking, somebody’s still missing. Will the dozen eggs friends ever be reunited?

Find out in this hilarious egg hunt adventure that reminds us to break out of our shells and help our friends in need!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I've read all the other books in Jory John and Pete Oswald's collection about sentient foodstuffs (except the forthcoming The Smart Cookie), so I thought I might enjoy The Great Eggscape! Unfortunately, it reads more like a cash grab to capitalize on the popularity of the other books.

Each of these stories features a little bit of a moral lesson for the main character. This sort of has that, but it's nowhere near as strong as in the other titles. Children may enjoy searching for the escaped eggs as they hide in the aisles of a grocery store, but there's no real overarching theme to tie everything together. Eggs stick together and don't end their game until they've all been found? Fine. But that doesn't exactly tug on the heartstrings.

The illustrations are standard fare for this series, with the added bonus of some of the eggs being dyed. (Nowhere is it mentioned how that happened... nor what the consequences will be if/when a customer opens up the carton to find the decorated eggs. Come to think of it, how long have these eggs been sitting in the dairy case? Ew...)

Check this one out if you absolutely love the series and can't bear to be without an installment. Otherwise, wait for The Smart Cookie (which will hopefully have a sweet message like the other books).

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.33 out of 5