Birds Build Nests - Softcover

Yvonne Winer has written twenty children's books. Yvonne lives in Queensland, Australia, with her two cats, possums, wallabies, bandicoots, king parrots, and plenty of lorikeets.

Kindergarten-Grade 3-Full-page, exquisitely detailed, realistic watercolors in richly tinted hues, each showing a particular species of bird in its natural habitat, are the real highlight of this very simple, poetically written introductory piece. Each five-line verse appears on a white page below a painting of an egg-filled nest. On the opposite page is an in situ illustration to which it relates. For example, "Birds build nests, Eggs deep inside, Secret spaces Where fledgelings hide. That's how birds build their nests" appears below a picture of a nest holding four blue eggs that is woven of various grasses and bound to thick plant stems. On the illustration opposite the text, a red-winged blackbird stands above its nest, which is hidden among tall grasses, a newly hatched open-mouthed baby in the nest, and a fluffy brown-and-white striped youngster perched on the edge of it. Of the 15 species shown, 7 are native to Australia (the author's home), 4 to Asia and Africa, and just 2 to the U.S. Two species can be found worldwide. A nest identification guide on the final two pages gives the species name in English and Latin, a description of the nest and its location, and a small reproduction of a nest with eggs as it appears within the book. Adults and children who love nature will be attracted to the illustrations (including the lovely cover) and intrigued by the variety of constructions and locations found within.
Susan Scheps, Shaker Heights Public Library, OH
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.