Two eggs, please.

A menagerie of customers parades through a diner, each one ordering "Two eggs, please." Sounds like an easy day for the fox waitress, right? Wrong. Everyone wants their eggs cooked (or not cooked!) differently. A red-capped rhino likes them sunny-side up, a stand-up bass-playing mouse in a tuxedo prefers them over easy, a stork in scrubs with a stethoscope around his neck asks for scrambled, and a snake on the shoulders of a nose ring-sporting crocodile wants them raw, natch. Each critter silently contemplates the others with one thought: "Different." Of course, when the unflappable bear chef starts to fill the orders with pairs of brown and white eggs, we are reminded of one of life's truisms: we’re all the same on the inside. Sarah Weeks and Caldecott Honor artist Betsy Lewin provide a unique and clever setting for a story with a simple, subtle message. (Ages 4 to 7) --Emilie Coulter