The Great Egg-Heist
by Mark Wenham (p. 13)
Teacher’s Page
Plot Summary
The narrator remembers visiting family friends on a farm as a five-year-old. He describes the friends,
Charlotte and Fritzy, their farmhouse, and the grounds. His favorite spot is the chicken coop. During the visit he decides
to hide a few eggs in his suitcase so that he can raise chickens back home. He does not realize until
years later that he was observed stealing the eggs. Someone secretly replaces the eggs hidden in his suitcase with red peppers. The narrator is of course amazed and concludes that red peppers come from eggs.
The whole story is told in mock “James Bond” style with the five-year-old starring as the secret agent involved in a dangerous mission—capturing eggs. This spy movie style reflects the vivid imagination of a young child, and the trappings of the
secret agent genre contrast humorously with the realities of the child’s life.
Interpreting the Story: Focus on Style
“The Great Egg-Heist” borrows some of the conventions of a spy movie: the secret mission, the daring agent, a diversionary tactic; and it employs much of the language of such stories: “espionage,” “impeccable composure,” “eliminate the
intruder.” Invite students to identify some of these elements. You might record them on the board. Invite students to discuss the effect of these elements. They will probably notice that the spy elements add suspense and
humor to the story.
Invite a student to summarize the plot of the story. The plot is really quite simple. A young boy wants to have chickens of his own, so he tries to steal some eggs. He hides the eggs in a suitcase. One of the adults in the house replaces the
eggs with red peppers. Point out that the addition of the spy story elements transforms this simple event into an entertaining story.
Responding Creatively to the Story
The Student’s Page invites students to transform a simple, childhood experience by writing about it in a particular
“style.” In the Before You Read section, students reminisce in writing about their own childhoods and discuss their
memories. Some students have trouble recalling childhood memories. Their task may be made easier by listening to other
students recount experiences. In the After You Read section, students will choose a “style” in which to retell a
childhood memory. The choice of a style may be logical or it may be whimsical. It is probably better for students to go
ahead and experiment in writing rather than try to select the “right” style. It may be helpful to point out to students that
“The Great Egg-Heist” begins with careful descriptions of the setting for the story.
This assignment requires an imaginative leap which some students will make more readily than others. After students have
written for ten minutes or so, invite them to read what they have written aloud so that students who are having trouble
getting started can hear what the beginnings of stories might sound like. Students should feel free to change to a different
style if the one chosen initially doesn’t work.
Connecting with Cultural Values and Students’ Lives
These questions may guide your students to a deeper understanding of how the story relates to their own lives. The discussion of the story may also be used to foster the positive value of honesty.
1. Is the narrator’s theft of eggs in this story humorous and harmless? Do the adults handle the theft appropriately? How
would the situation be different if the narrator had stolen a candy bar from a convenience store? Under what circumstances does theft of seemingly trivial things become a serious offense?
Guide to Sophomores
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The Great Egg-Heist
The Great Egg-Heist
(p. 13)
Name _____________________________ Date _____________
Before You Read: Remembering Childhood
Think back to your childhood, say ages 5-8. Write for ten minutes or so about your childhood memories. Try to focus
on a significant event. For example, you might write about:
• a time you lost something significant
• an embarrassing memory
• a traumatic event
• an exciting experience
After about ten minutes, your teacher may invite students to share the writing with the class.
After the sharing, choose one particular memory. Write a brief, factual summary of the events from
this memory. This summary will become a plot outline for the story you will eventually write.
After You Read
“The Great-Egg Heist” is told in the style of a spy story. It uses vocabulary typical of a spy story and includes events
described as if they were in a spy story. Now, choose one of the styles below to use for retelling your
childhood memory. (You may add to the list of styles if you wish.)
Soap Opera
Western
Opera
Spy Story
Horror Movie
Science Fiction
Knights in Shining Armor Story
Fairy Tale
Fable
Folk Tale
Situation Comedy
Superhero Comic
Myth
In the space below, list everything you know about the style you have chosen. What does this type of story
normally include? List words or phrases typical of this style.
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On your own paper, retell your childhood event using the style you have chosen. For example, you might tell about
learning to ride a bike as if you were a cowboy breaking a new horse.
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The Great Egg-Heist
The Great Egg-Heist
(p. 13)
Name _____________________________ Date _____________
Connecting with Other Stories
“Coward,” also in Sophomores, is another funny story told from a child’s point of view. In “The Secret Life of Walter
Mitty,” by James Thurber, Walter Mitty imagines himself doing daring deeds while in reality he is carrying out mundane
tasks. As in “The Great Egg-Heist,” the effect is humorous.
Vocabulary from “The Great Egg-Heist”
Directions: Based on the way each word in bold below is used in the sentence, write what you think the word means.
Then look up the same word in your dictionary and copy the definition that comes closest to the way the word is used in
the sentence. Finally, write a sentence of your own using the word. Make sure the sentence shows what the word
means. Use a separate sheet of paper.
Example: I was about five years old at the time, dashing and suave in a five-year-old sort of way, and on a
mission—a serious mission. (p. 13)
Definition based on context: smooth
Dictionary definition: smoothly agreeable and courteous
Original sentence: After three months at Miss Perry’s Finishing School for Young Ladies, Sally Mae had been
transformed from an uncouth country girl to a suave and sophisticated young woman.
1. It wasn’t quite an international espionage thriller, but for me, a five-year-old, it was risking everything. (p. 13)
2. The huge living room had an immense stone fireplace that Fritzy and I spent hours throwing paper airplanes into,
which often flustered Charlotte, as we wasted a lot of paper with our imaginary, fireplace-doomed kamikaze jet
fighters. (p. 14)
3. It came complete with dark corners; saggy beams and ceiling; piles of dateless crud; light beams slanting through dirtencrusted windows into the fine, airborne sediment common to such old places; a distinct, musty odor; and warped,
slanted floors that creaked just the right way when walked on. (p. 15)
4. & 5. I was hanging loose with the chickens in the coop, pondering my predicament, when the proverbial bulb
went off in my head and a daring scheme hatched. (p. 16)
6. & 7. On a mission such as this, impeccable composure is a must. (p. 16)
8. Being a self-proclaimed master of all that pertains to martial arts, I was a veritable five-year-old death wish to anyone who might have accidentally stumbled onto my operation. (p. 17)
9. Again, I strolled nonchalantly back to the egg boxes. (p. 17)
10. Most five-year-olds, not possessing the finesse that I did, would have simple walked, or stumbled, but I strolled.
(p. 17)
11. Of course, the plan ultimately entailed my parents realizing that I was raising chickens; but, like any good agent, I
decided to face that hazard when I came to it. (p. 17)
12. I looked mournfully out the huge windows at the precious chicken coop. (p. 20)
13. I thought about organizing another mission but decided against it, because there was some secret to hatching eggs
that I wasn’t privy to. (p. 20)
14. & 15. Nor did I notice the entertained, not quite restrained smirks plastered all over everyone’s face, especially
when they looked at me, listlessly picking at my food. (p. 20)
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The Great Egg-Heist
The Great Egg-Heist
(p. 13)
Name _____________________________ Date _____________
Reading Check for “The Great Egg-Heist”
Circle the letters of all the correct answers. Some questions may have more than one correct answer.
1. The narrator tries to get chickens of his own by
a. stealing eggs
b. planting an egg from the refrigerator
c. asking his dad
d. burying a drumstick in the backyard
3. When the narrator returns to check on the eggs in his
suitcase, he finds
a. baby chicks
b. broken eggs
c. red peppers
d. his mother going through his suitcase
2. At the time of the egg-heist the narrator is
a. a teenager
b. a five-year-old
c. an adult
d. not born yet
4. The narrator uses vocabulary appropriate for
a. a science-fiction story
b. a soap opera
c. a western
d. a spy story
Language Skills in Context: Sentence Combining
Rewrite the passage below. Experiment with ways to combine sentences to make them more effective. You will
have to leave some words out and you may make small changes in wording. You may use conjunctions (and, or, but) to
join sentences, but you may also want to use words like “as,” “who,” and “with” to join ideas. When you are finished,
compare your work to the original passage on page 14 of “The Great Egg-Heist.”
Example: Fritzy and Char owned this house. The house was in Madison, New Hampshire. That’s one of my favorite
towns in the world.
Combination #1: Fritzy and Char owned this house in Madison, New Hampshire. That was one of my favorite towns in
the world.
Combination #2: Fritzy and Char owned this house in Madison, New Hampshire, one of my favorite towns in the
world.
Rewrite this altered, simplified passage.
The house was built in the 1800s. Fritz added a new part. It included a large kitchen. It also included the greatest living
room I’d ever been in. The living room was huge. It had a stone fireplace. The fireplace was immense. Fritzy and I spent
hours throwing paper airplanes into the fireplace. This flustered Charlotte. We wasted a lot of paper with our imaginary jet
fighters. They were fireplace-doomed and kamikaze fighters. The living room had huge windows. They stretched up to the
ceiling. The ceiling was slanted. It was massive-beamed. It had a red- and black-specked shag rug. Plants were all over the
place. A sofa and seats were by the fireplace. Huge wooden shelves held ancient Reader’s Digests. The shelves also held
books about nature and an enormously enjoyable remote-control TV. The interior of the living room was tastefully decorated. It had stuffed trophies. The trophies were from Fritzy’s many years of hunting. There was a fox, a raccoon, moose and
deer heads. There were also racks of antlers and a forty-five-pound bass. There was a weasel, an otter, and a bear head. A
swordfish was mounted on the stone chimney of the fireplace.
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The Great Egg-Heist
The Great Egg-Heist
(p. 13)
Name _____________________________ Date _____________
Language Skills in Context: Sentence Combining
continued
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Brainteasers for Critical Thinking
1. What do you know about five-year-olds? Are there commonalities in the way they think, feel, behave? Does this narrator appear to have been a fairly typical young child?
2. In one or two sentences, sum up the events that make up this story. What has the writer done to get a lengthy story
out of these events? What does this development add to the story?
3. What feelings does the author display toward the naive Secret Agent of yesteryear? Is he patronizing, embarrassed,
incredulous, and divorced from his younger self? Or is he, rather, reminiscing with nostalgic affection and amusement?
Do you think that most people, looking back upon their actions of a much earlier era, generally show more compassion
toward the then-self than toward the now-self? Less compassion? What might contribute to such a prejudice?
4. Self-parody is the overall banner headline under which the fun progresses, but what are a few of the story’s humorous
“subheads”? Pick out one or more of your favorite funny sentences or moments and try to pinpoint what in particular
makes it so funny or heartwarming.
5. Reread the description of Char and Fritzy’s living room. What feeling or mood does the writer create? What details
contribute to this feeling? How about the “old barn-garage,” and New Hampshire in general? How would the story be
different if you didn’t know much about the setting?
6. In what ways does this story read like a spy novel or resemble a James Bond movie or a TV detective show? Cite
examples of similarities. See how crazily you can parody and/or make melodrama of some aspect of your own life, past
or present!
7. Describe one “mission” or adventure you went on when you were a young child. What made it so important and
exciting to you? How did you feel before, during, and after? What physical and emotional details do you remember?
8. Do you approve of Mom and Char’s handling of the situation? How so, and/or not so? How would you have handled
it? What do you envision as the response of the world’s leading child psychologist?
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The Great Egg-Heist