Review: Ellie the Eggspert

Ellie the Eggspert

by Danielle Sharkan, illustrated by Alexandra Colombo

Apples & Honey Press (imprint of Behrman House), 2025

Category: Picture Books

Reviewer: Jodie Sadowsky

 

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Ellie is an expert at many things, especially cooking. At school, Ellie’s teacher hands out seeds for the children to grow into plants which will be used in recipes for the class cooking competition. Ellie’s friends instantly know how they’ll prepare their tomato, cucumber and garbanzo bean seeds, but Ellie is stumped with her eggplant seeds. She thought eggs came from chickens, not plants! Amelia Bedelia-style silliness ensues around her misunderstanding (which might fall flat for kids similarly unfamiliar with eggplant): Ellie builds a nest, sets up an incubator, waits for her egg(plant)s to hatch, then tries to use her eggplant in traditionally egg-based dishes, like omelet, souffle and cake.

When all fails, Ellie seeks help from her friends, who arrive with their newly harvested produce and cooking tips. Now, Ellie’s eggplant tastes delicious. Each child enters the competition with their own recipes, as well as a combined entry created together. Sweetly, the winner is the team effort: the Israeli eggplant sandwich, which the backmatter explains emigrated with Iraqi Jews.

This story is perfect for aspiring chefs, and a broader audience of kids who will relate to suddenly encountering challenges in activities where they once felt confident. The subtle messages about the benefits of teamwork and asking for help create a satisfying ending. The bright and clear illustrations focus on Ellie and her freckled cheeks in a variety of scenes: the classroom, a beautiful chef’s kitchen, and most uniquely, through window panes during the long growing season.

The story itself has no overt Jewish content, but the backmatter describes the eggplant sandwich Ellie and her friends create as an “Israeli dish called sabich,” with a loose recipe and an explanation of its origins in the Iraqi Jewish community. The fact that it has no religious undertone or content might help the book be welcomed in diverse classrooms, where the backmatter can importantly share historical facts about Israel and Iraqi Jews.

 

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Reviewer Jodie Sadowsky is the author of a forthcoming children’s book, A Sukkah for Bella, releasing in Summer 2025 with Lovevery Books, and essays appearing in Kveller, The Forward, Jewish Women’s Archive, Tablet Magazine, The Huffington Post, CNN, and more. Jodie serves on her local library board and the selection committee for the Malka Penn Award for Human Rights in Children’s Literature.