The Talking Eggs (urspr publ 1989; utgåvan 1989)

I remember this book being mildly terrifying as a child. ( )

Read aloud to my daughter many, many times. ❤ ( )

Good story to teach theme in literature. Appropriate story for elementary or middle school students. Creole folktale about two very different sisters, one sweet and kind, the other cruel and mean. The mother preferred the harsher sister and made the kinder Blanche, do all the work around the house. One day Blanche met an old strange woman in the woods that gave her very strict instructions and Blanche followed every one. In the end she was blessed for behaving with fine clothes and jewels. Her sister went to the old woman and inevitably didn't follow the old ladies instructions. She ended up being stung by bees and chased by a wolf, instead of receiving blessings. Blanche moved to the city and lived happily ever after with her new riches. ( )

The Talking Eggs is about a family, a mother and two sisters, who were poor and lived on a farm. The mother and older sister Rose were mean and lazy and made Blanche the younger sweet sister do all of the work. One day Blanche went to get water and encountered an old lady in the woods who was weak and needed water. Blanche gave her the water and returned home only to be beat and yelled at by her mother and sister for the water not being cold enough. Blanche ran into the woods and was taken in by the old woman, who brought her to her house. When they arrive to the house Blanche sees animals with two heads and watches the woman do what seems like magic. She stays the night and when she wakes the next morning the woman tells her to grab eggs from the barn but only the ones that tell her to take them and as she returns home to throw them over her right shoulder. In the barn there are pretty jeweled eggs and normal eggs. While Blanche is tempted by the jeweled eggs, the normal eggs are the ones that say to take them, so she does. As she walks home, she does as she is told and as she throws the eggs they turn into a carriage, gold coins, and nice clothes. When she returns home her mother and sister are jealous and hatch a plan to get their own eggs and then steal Blanche’s things and run away to the city together. When the sister goes to the old lady’s house, she is rude and doesn’t do as she is told, she ends up threatening the lady and makes her tell her where the eggs are. The old lady tells her what she told Blanche, but the sister does not listen and steals the jeweled eggs. As she throws them, they turn into snakes, wolves, bugs, and frogs and chase the mother and sister away. Blanche ends up taking her riches and moves to the big city remaining nice and generous always.

I enjoyed reading this folktale, it reminded me of stories that my grandparents would tell me that they were told when they were little. This would be a good story to read to students to talk about the importance of being a kind person and how that benefits you in the long run. It would be a good story to use when introducing folktales to students. ( )

Blanch is treated horribly by her mother and sister. One day, she helps an old woman. The woman invites her to her house, but makes Blanch promise not to laugh at anything she sees. Blanch sees a two headed cow, multi colored chickens and watches the old woman take her head off, but never laughs and helps the woman make dinner. As a reward, the woman lets her take eggs home. When she throws the eggs over her shoulder, they turn into treasures and finery. Blanch's mean sister, Rose, tries to go get her fortune from the old woman. But she is mean tempered and laughs at everything she sees. She leaves the old woman's house with eggs that when thrown over her shoulder let out all kinds of nasty beasts. Blanch leaves her to go live in the city with her finery and never sees her mother and sister again.
This folktale is pretty convoluted. It reminds me of Italo Calvino's Italian folktales: very specific with strange fantastical elements. I like the lesson, but the story isn't my favorite and might be a little complex to hold the attention of kids. ( )