 The book we'll be signing today is entitled The Most Wonderful Egg in the World Written and illustrated by Helm Hine Behind a tree, a fox peered out to sea Three hens were quarreling What about? About which of them was the most beautiful? I am beautiful No, I am No, I am the most beautiful They quarreled and quarreled The first, named Dottie, had the most beautiful feathers She had on a coat of red polka dots Her other coat, hanging up, had yellow polka dots She stood looking into the mirror, admiring her beauty The second hen, named Stockie, had the most beautiful legs Her legs were long and lean She bent over to see her legs The third hen, Ploomy, had the most beautiful crest She stood proud with the crest atop her head The three hens continued to quarrel Since they could not settle their quarrel among themselves They decided to ask the king for his advice They went to see the king The three hens entered the palace They walked down a long red carpet At the end, the king sat at a long table with candles and his drink The hens were nervous The king peered down What you can do is more important than what you look like Said the king The hens were confused What we do? Whichever one of you lays the most wonderful egg I will make a princess The three hens were excited The palace park was a lush green The king was dressed in his royal attire He went out into the palace park Followed by all the hens in his kingdom They were very excited First, Dottie preened her beautiful feathers Before settling in the wet grass It was not long before she cackled Stood up and stepped aside She looked down The king and all the hens were speechless There lay an egg Snow white Spotless and perfectly shaped The egg shell shimmering like polished marble This is the most perfect egg I have ever seen Cried the king And all the hens nodded It was a perfect egg Then it was Stocky's turn With her long, long legs She walked over and settled in The king and the hens all felt a little sorry for her They knew she could not lay a more perfect egg It was impossible She wiggled in After 10 minutes, Stocky cackled Got up and stretched her legs Proudly in the morning sun The king clapped his hands for joy There lay an egg of such size and weight That even an ostrich You know the large birds with protruding eyes A long neck and big body Would for sure have been jealous The egg was very big This is the biggest egg I have ever seen Cried the king And all the hens nodded While they were still nodding The third hen, Plumie, settled herself carefully on the ground The king and all the hens looked to Plumie One hen imagined Plumie's egg maybe yellow Another hen thought maybe two blue eggs A third thought the egg may be cracked One hen pictured there being no egg at all They waited and waited The king with hens on either side stood and watched As he waited, the king hoped for a golden egg Everyone waited Then with only a small cackle She got up eager to see her egg She stood up to reveal an egg that Oh my, oh my That egg would be talked about for the next hundred years And what did the egg look like? Before them lay a square egg Each side was straight as if drawn with a ruler And each surface shown in a different color This indeed is the most fantastic egg I have ever seen Cried the king And all the hens nodded The king and the hens were overjoyed The hens clicked and clicked in excitement Inside the king's home was an elegant green chase lounge On which two hens perched The hens wondered who will become the princess On the wall were three framed pictures one of each egg Do you remember them? The first the most perfect shimmering white The second the biggest egg The third square with straight sides They wondered who the king would choose to make a princess The king said to the hens I have been thinking long and hard about which egg was the most wonderful And I cannot decide It was impossible to say which egg was the most wonderful So the king decided that all three hens should be made princesses The hens were delighted And from that day to this They have been the best of friends And have happily gone on laying extraordinary eggs Many many extraordinary eggs Here the three princesses sit in the king's gondola As he paddles the boat