The Egg Incident

Nominated for the Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2025

Remember, Humphrey; never run, never jump, and NEVER. EVER. sit on a wall!

Humphrey is an egg. An egg with very protective parents. Make sure you double knot your shoelaces, Humphrey. Never run. Never jump and never ever EVER sit on a wall. You remember what happened to your uncle…

Humphrey lives a very quiet and cautious life, until the day he bumps into Princess Jean (PJ) in the park. An adventurer through and through, PJ can’t understand why Humphrey doesn’t allow himself to have any fun. She tells him tales of all her antics and mishaps and they don’t notice the park is closing.

Oh no! How will Humphrey get home? There’s only one way out. Over. The. Wall! When Humphrey finally faces his darkest fears, a surprising revelation lies on the other side.

This laugh out loud graphic novel is a joyous reversal of the traditional Humpty Dumpty tale of caution that will delight readers who are tiptoeing towards independence themselves.

The Egg Incident is a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection (US).

Ziggy Hanaor is a writer and publisher living in London, whose previous graphic novel, Alte Zachen: Old Things (Cicada 2022), was shortlisted for the Yoto Carnegie Medal for Illustration 2023.

Daisy Wynter is an illustrator based in Sussex. As a child she was a bookworm and a compulsive doodler, and this hasn’t really changed in adulthood. Her love of picture books and comics led her to study for an MA in Children’s Book Illustration at Goldsmith’s, which she completed in 2020. She works primarily by hand, in pencil and gouache, and especially loves drawing dogs.