January 19, 2015
Frequent mother-daughter collaborators Yolen and Stemple, whose previous books include Not All Princesses Dress in Pink, offer a gentle rhyming bedtime story that spotlights 14 birds’ nesting habits and habitats. At bedtime, a human mother lulls her own “nestling” to sleep with verses that flit from bird to bird, before concluding with a reassuring refrain: “Pigeons nest on concrete ledges,/ Catbirds nest in greening hedges,/ Tiny wrens, in shoreline sedges./ You nest here with me.” Caldecott Honor artist Sweet’s (A River of Words) mixed-media illustrations portray familiar types of birds (pigeons, swallows, owls) alongside lesser-known killdeer, grackles, and coots, capturing their urban, seaside, wetland, or forest environs in bright swaths of watercolor paint and soft pencils. Some vocabulary (boles, tors) and observations (“Killdeer, once their eggs are laid,/ Perform a broken-wing charade”) invite further investigation; concluding notes provide explanatory details (“To lure predators away from their eggs, killdeer act like easy prey by faking a broken wing”) and other information about each bird. A well-crafted and informative window onto the world of winged creatures. Ages 4–8.
February 1, 2015
PreS-K-As she puts her daughter to bed, a mother shares a soothing rhyme about birds that nest in places far and near. Each rhymed triplet is followed by the repeated assurance: "But you nest here with me." Sweet's watercolor and gouache landscapes reveal adult birds watching over nestlings. Coots hide in cozy cattail reeds; terns wheel above cliffs; plovers explore sandy shores. Each vista includes many details for viewers to ponder. Older listeners (or adult readers) can find additional information about the featured birds in two pages of authors' notes, which encourage prospective bird watchers. However, the book probably will be read most often as a comforting prelude to sleep. VERDICT A worthwhile purchase for collections that need new selections for bedtime sharing.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University Library, Mankato
Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
December 15, 2014
Nestling her young child in for the night, a mother shares in rhyme the many ways birds bed down to sleep. "Swallows nest above barn doors, / Plovers nest on sandy shores, // Eagles nest upon high tors, / But you nest here with me." With an easy cadence and a comforting anchor, Yolen and Stemple drift from cowbird to killdeer, bedding down winged creatures while always returning to the safety of mom and home. Sweet's illustrations, done in watercolor, gouache and mixed media, use a soft palette of blues and greens in double-page spreads that capture the essence of each bird. The text and the images work well together, balancing the mood of quiet comfort with avian description. With a variety of nest types, the birds show that "home" can be wherever your loved one is close by. Although it has clear application as a bedtime book, there is also a nature book hovering in the wings. The authors' note provides information such as diet, markings and locations on 14 different birds. The images of each bird's egg and feather along with its silhouette will surely captivate budding ornithologists. As a whole, the book ably carries readers past many flying friends and lands with ease in a safe nest. (Picture book. 3-8)
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Starred review from March 15, 2015
Preschool-K *Starred Review* Do we need another good-night book? The answer is unequivocally yes when it is as imaginative and original as this one. Yolen, Stemple, and Sweet have created a bedtime book rooted in the natural order of things, here the life of birds. The text alternates between two and three lines of rhyme, providing a rhythm to the telling, but returning to end each stanza with you nest here with me, gives the young listener comfort as well as encouragement to participate in the story. Background information is given in the endpapers to identify and add general information to Sweet's gloriously illustrated birds, but throughout, her pictures capture the essence and the joy of the natural world. Beginning in the child's bedroom, where tree branches form the bedstead and birds are in windows and a sketchbook, we move outdoors to experience birds and their families on ledges, in hedges, soaring, and snuggling. Greens and blues dominate many of the pages, providing a sense of liveliness and well-being in a world that birds share with other creatures, flowers, leaves, and buildings. Informative as well as lovely, this delights the eye, mind, and heart.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)
March 1, 2015
Yolen and Stemple gracefully incorporate natural science into a comforting picture book comparing various nesting birds with a "nesting" child ("My little nestling, time for bed"). Some birds, such as pigeons, which "nest on concrete ledges," will be familiar to many children, while others may be less so: "Grackles nest in high fir trees / Terns all nest in colonies." Almost always, the verse ends with the soothing refrain, "But you nest here with me." Sweet's watercolor, gouache, and mixed-media illustrations use rich colors and delicate lines. The pictures are both accurate and arresting, page after page. Many details are included for children to pick out, such as a frog mother and child sitting on a log near a coot's nest, or a fox gazing interestedly at a killdeer performing a "broken-wing charade" to protect her babies. A closing spread includes additional facts about each bird, along with a picture of its shape, feather, and egg. Science meets wonder in this deeply satisfying collaboration between poets and artist. susan dove lempke
(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)