By Maureen Tai, 17 October 2021

In Chih-Yuan Chen’s charming and gentle picture book, On My Way to Buy Eggs (ages 4+), we follow Shau-yu (“Little Fish”) as she threads her way through her sleepy Taiwanese neighbourhood to buy eggs for her father. Carefree Shau-yu toddles along in her flip flops: playing with shadows on the ground, peeking at a slumbering dog, finding all sorts of treasure: a blue marble, a line of crunchy leaves, a pair of spectacles. She is playful, imagining herself in a watery world, or pretending to be her mother, and curious, which came first, the chicken or the egg? Paired with textured, earth-toned illustrations, Chih-Yan’s masterful depiction of the little girl’s errand is a reminder of simple joys and everyday beauty, seen through the eyes of a child. What a wonderful world this is!

NOTE: Thank you for reading my reviews! I’ll never take this website down, but in the interests of streamlining, from 1 January 2025, I’ll be posting new reviews on my writer website, www.maureentai.com, where I post lots of other bookish extras. See you there!