Hatch! - Hardcover

Roxie Munro is the acclaimed author/illustrator of more than 35 books for children (including Mazescapes; Amazement Park; The Inside-Outside Books of New York City [New York Times Best Illustrated Award], Washington DC, Texas, London, Paris, and Libraries; Feathers, Flaps & Flops; Doors; Gargoyles, Girders & Glass Houses; Ranch; Wild West Trail Ride Maze; Circus; Mazeways: A to Z; Rodeo; Go!Go!Go!; and Inside-Outside Dinosaurs). Her books have been translated into French, Italian, Dutch, Chinese, and Japanese.

Roxie was born in Texas, and grew up in southern Maryland. Fourteen of her paintings have been published as covers of The New Yorker magazine. Her work is exhibited widely in the US in galleries and museums.   Roxie studied at the University of Maryland, the Maryland Institute College of Art (Baltimore), earned a BFA in Painting from the University of Hawaii, attended graduate school at Ohio University (Athens), and received a Yaddo Fellowship in Painting. She lectures in museums, schools, conventions, and teaches workshops.

Roxie is married to the Swedish writer/photographer, Bo Zaunders, and lives in New York City.

Gr K-6 Birds are some of the most fascinating creatures on Earth, writes Munro, who proceeds to explain just how so with all the enthralling pizzazz of the Guinness Book of Records. The design of the book is a winner: page left an illustration of some eggs; page right clues as to what bird laid the eggs; overleaf a two-page spread of the bird in its milieu (with a small company of other creatures typically found there) and additional, often wowing, information about the bird. The illustrations are scrupulous but friendly and inviting, with none of the antiseptic character of a guidebook. The selection of birds allows for both the familiar ostrich, hummingbird, eagle and the unusual: black-legged kittiwakes, cactus wren, pegged for both the musicality of their names and some good and strange facts. Birds that sleep on the water with one eye open? Birds that build a nest as big as a car? Birds that can dive 700 feet under water? A bird taller than a professional basketball player? Birds that squat on anthills for the stinging thrill of it? They are all here. Munro doesn t just dole out the odd facts, but paints literally and figuratively a fine portrait of each bird, the kind that will keep a young reader rapt. --Kirkus January 15, 2011

Hatch! by Roxie Munro presents fascinating profiles of nine mostly familiar birds owls, hummingbirds, penguins, and the like in an engaging guessing-game format. Each bird gets a two-page spread: on one side, a close-up of eggs; and on the other, a series of clues about the producers of those eggs. Turn the page to find the answer as well as Munro's colorful, detailed illustrations of each bird's nesting habitats. An egg-shaped text box provides additional information, such as bird behaviors, reproduction, and feeding patterns. (5 8 years) --News About Good Books for Children and Teens

K-Gr 4 Which bird can turn its head 270 degrees? Which bird can stay under water for up to 18 minutes? Which bird never drinks? Which bird can run faster than a racehorse? Whose nest weighs more than a car? These and other fascinating facts about familiar and unusual avian species from the great horned owl and the emperor penguin to the cactus wren, ostrich, and bald eagle are presented in a fun and accessible format. A simple illustration of an egg or group of eggs is accompanied by large, bold text posing the question: Can you guess whose eggs these are? The facing page includes a brief description of the mystery bird. Turn the page and a detailed spread reveals an expansive colored-ink illustration of the species, its nest, and its offspring along with more information and interesting facts. A white text box at the bottom of the page lists other animals that share the featured bird s habitat, and readers will enjoy searching for them among the intricate illustrations. Useful for classroom units, this inviting and attractive book will captivate young nature lovers. --School Library Journal, May, 2011

Gr. PreK-3 Munro s large-format picture book makes a question-and-answer game out of a series of eggs and the remarkable birds that they produce. Each entry begins with a creamy, spare, two-page spread, with an image of eggs on the left-hand side and facts about the featured species on the right. Above the eggs is a bold question: Can you guess whose eggs these are? The subsequent spread offers a detailed, full-bleed view of the birds in their habitat, with more information about how they fit into their ecosystem and share it with other creatures. Munro s ink illustrations are clear and precise. The compositions of the egg illustrations are suitably simple, while the shifts between up-close and wide-angle perspectives in the habitat spreads give both a specific picture of the birds in question and a sense of their broader environment. Children will find the format engaging and discover --Booklist, March 15, 2011

Munro presents fascinating fact-profiles of nine mostly familiar birds - owls, hummingbirds, penguins, eagles, and the like - in an engaging guessing-game format. For each bird, we start with a two-page spread: on one side, a close-up of eggs (not very detailed, and not to scale, but that's not the point of the task); and on the other side, a series of clues about the producers of those eggs. It's thinking about the clues that will help readers to guess each bird, as the clues contain information with which readers might be familiar (e.g., a bird with the same colors and name as a major league baseball team, or the world's tallest, heaviest bird that can't fly). Turn the page to find the answer as well as Munro's colorful, detailed illustrations of each bird's nesting habitats. The art includes portrayals of adult birds, baby birds, the eggs in their nests, and a view of their immediate environments. An egg-shaped text box provides additional information that might not already be known by readers, such as bird behaviors, reproduction, and feeding patterns. A helpful list of the other animals in each illustration encourages even more interactivity. Suggested further reading and a small glossary are appended. The Horn Book Magazine, Danielle J. Ford May 1, 2011
"...Spanning the globe, the title includes emperor penguins, mallards, cactus wrens, ostriches, humming birds, and bald eagles. Throughout, the interesting tidbits are well-chosen to both reveal bird essentials and grab readers' attention, working hand in hand with the book's interactive elements as well as the large-size, bursting-with-vitality artwork..." --School Library Journal article, Explore the Animal Kingdom: Books for Reading Aloud