Chicken vs Egg

Name: Chicken vs Egg
Rating: 5 (1 reviews)

by Gareth P Jones, illustrated by Craig Shuttlewood

Interest age: 3 to 5

Published by Andersen Press, 2026

Picture books
Funny
Poetry and rhyme

About this book

Which came first – the chicken or the egg? It’s a question that has preoccupied humans, but no longer! In this story, there’s going to be a race between the chicken (max speed: 9 mph, legs: 2) and the egg (max speed: 0 mph, intelligence: unknown).

A race between a chicken and an egg might seem to have one obvious winner, but, as the race begins, all sorts of unexpected factors come into play, including a rogue fox, a lift from a heron and a helpful duck. Finally, there’s everything to play for as the chicken and the egg reach the finish line – but what happens when the egg begins to hatch?

A brilliantly funny and fast-moving picture book featuring a lot of fun racing phraseology, Chicken vs Egg introduces little ones to a familiar philosophical question, mashed up with the theme of the tortoise and the hare. There’s a fun unexpected ending here and plenty of jokes along the way. Brilliant.

About the author

Gareth P Jones is the author of The Thornthwaite Inheritance, which was shortlisted for over 11 local book awards and won seven. His first novel for Bloomsbury, The Dragon Detective Agency: The Case of the Missing Cats, was shortlisted for the Waterstone’s Book Prize. He went on to write more Dragon Detective book,s as well as the interstellar crime adventure Space Crime Conspiracy. His latest series with Stripes is called Pet Defenders and involves pets fighting aliens. Gareth works as a TV producer and is a talented musician, creating songs for his books. He lives in London and has seven cousins, who he never sees when the moon is full!