This Is the Nest That Robin Built
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- $14.99
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
A robin’s animal friends help build her nest in this cumulative collage picture book from Caldecott Honor recipient Denise Fleming.
Robin is building a nest, and her friends are ready to help! The squirrel trims the twigs. The dog brings the string. The horse shares his straw. And then a surprise gatefold spread reveals how Robin knits them all together to make a safe and cozy home for her babies.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Like a fresh spring breeze, Fleming's cumulative tale celebrates a favorite symbol of the season, a robin's nest. Beginning with a squirrel "who trimmed the twigs, not too big,/ that anchor the nest that Robin built," Fleming (5 Little Ducks) introduces several animals that provide the materials the bird needs to craft the resting spot for her "eggs, brittle and blue." The verse is saturated with alliteration and internal rhymes ("This is the mouse/ who gathered the weeds, dotted with seeds,/ that bind the mud, soft not soupy,/ that plasters the straw, rough and tough..."), and the collage illustrations gain bold, mottled textures from the varied printmaking techniques Fleming used to treat the paper before assembling them. When the nestlings, "tufted and pink," finally arrive, a foldout spread reveals all of the work that went into the nest; small vignettes show Robin combining twigs, string, straw, mud, and more to put it together. Fleming's nature scenes pulse with electric shades of green, highlighting the hive of activity that precedes the arrival of a newborn (or three). Ages 2 8.
