Juana the hen has lost her egg and she’s looking for it everywhere. She keeps thinking that she sees it (the object always looks like an egg when the flap is down). However, once you lift the flap you see that it’s really something else. Each time the object says “No, I’m a ….” (e.g. “No, I’m a mushroom.”)

The first time it turns out to be a ball of lemon ice cream that has fallen on the floor Then it’s a cat. Then it’s the moon rising over a hill. Then it’s a mushroom growing out of the ground. Then it’s a little pearl inside a shell. Each time she sees a new “egg” Juana is sure she’s finally found her egg, and she is quite exhausted by the end of
the book after all this searching.

Finally, the egg appears. “Hello Juana! I’m here!” says a little chick as it bursts out of the egg. Juana gives her chick a big hug.

Advantages/what works well:

• This would be a fun picture book to read with babies and toddlers. The young readers will no doubt find it funny to see the “egg” magically turn out to be a cat, the moon etc. Flaps are always popular, and these ones are particularly clever as they transform the image from one thing to another.
• The language is very simple, making this good to read with the
  youngest readers who are just acquiring language.
• It is brightly coloured (oranges, yellow, red, blue, white and green), with clear bold lines, making it quite attractive for a small child to pick up.
• The image of Juana hugging her chick at the end is very sweet and could be a nice opportunity for a hug at bedtime with your baby.

Disadvantages/what didn’t work well:

• The story isn’t especially original compared to other picture books. It potentially wouldn’t stand out alongside other picture books.
• The images have a comic book style and are also arguably not especially original. It might just be me but I find the little pearl with a face quite off-putting!

Translation difficulties:

• The text is very simple and there wouldn’t be any issues translating this into English. In fact, as there is very little text this could be done very quickly and cheaply.