need help finding title and author of a childhood favorite

[BeeZnEEz101]

It is an african american childrens book

in the book the main character has to go fetch some water and meets a strange old lady whose house she goes to 

she does everything the old lady says for example the old lady told her to choose the plain brown eggs rather than the gold ones in the coop and the main character does a

and from obeying the old lady she gets valuable things

her stepmom sends her step sister to go to the old lady to get some of the same things

the stepsister doesnt obey the old lady for example she chooses the golden eggs instead of the plain ones  and is rewarded with snakes and other creatures who follow her and I think in the end the main character dsnt have to live with the stepmom or sis anymore and does something she always wants to do

on the cover I remember a well painted black gir's face with 2 braids(not really sre about the cover tho)

[harleyhoney]

I know this book, BeeZneez101.  I'm at work, though, and the book is at home.  I'll post again when I get home.  It is beautifully illustrated and I remember that the strange old lady can take off her head to fix her hair.  A very handy skill!

Nancy

[dulcinea3]

This is actually a common theme in fairy tales.  I was looking up some of the stories that I know that are similar, and found that there is a classification of fairy tale themes by Aarne and Thompson.  This theme is #480, "the kind and the unkind girls".  Some of the stories I am familiar with (some in Andrew Lang's Red Fairy Book) are Mother Hulda, Diamonds and Toads, The Three Heads in the Well, Father Frost, and The Three Little Men in the Wood.  In each of them, there is a kind girl who encounters someone for whom she does good deeds and receives rewards, often having gold and jewels falling from her mouth when she speaks.  Then the 'evil' stepsister goes out to try to get the same riches, but is selfish and greedy, and ends up with curses, such as toads and snakes falling from her mouth when she speaks.

This doesn't answer the question of the specific one you are looking for, but I thought it was interesting.  I had never heard of this classification system before, but I have often noted that fairy tale themes are often repeated in many different stories.

[harleyhoney]

Here we go, BeeZnEEz101.  The Talking Eggs by Robert D. San Souci and illustrated by Jerry Pickney.  A Caldecott Honor Book

The Talking Eggs 

Nancy