A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home
compare prices
A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home
by
3.7 of 5 stars
Celeste is not your average mouse. She lives alone, quietly weaving baskets with creative flair under the floor boards of the Oakley Plantation. ... read full description

reviews

Mar 22, 2011
Kathryn rated it: 5 of 5 stars
This is my first Henry Cole book and was it ever a delight. It's based on the four month visit of John James Audubon and his 13 year old assistant Joseph's visit at Oakley Plantation near New Orleans. The story revolves around the sweetest little mouse, Celeste (I just love her name) and her getting to know Joseph as well as her encounters with the home's cat. She meets some enchanting birds with great personalities and learns the meaning of friendship. Henry Cole's website is such fun, hen More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Nov 09, 2011
Amalia rated it: 5 of 5 stars
As Celeste weaves her grass baskets, so Cole masterfully weaves his tale. Layer upon layer is unearthed as we explore Celeste's world with her, as we join her in her search for safety and security - no easy feat for a mouse, or anyone else!

As we adventure with Celeste, we meet John James Audubon and his assistant Joseph. Audubon is known for his detailed sketches and paintings of birds in their natural habitats. Cole adds to our understanding of this artist and naturalist through th More...
0 comments like
Jun 21, 2011
Charlyn rated it: 4 of 5 stars
In 1939, Robert Lawson set a small mouse in Benjamin Franklin's hat to narrate a historical tale. Henry Cole now sets a small mouse named Celeste in the hat of young Joseph Mason, the apprentice of John James Audubon's assistant, while the two stay on a Louisiana plantation to paint the birds and foliage. The story, however, isn't Audubon's story or even the story of Joseph, still a young teenager away from home for the first time. This is the story of Celeste, a talented young basket-weaving More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Aug 21, 2010
Chris rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This is the gentle story of one summer in the life of a mouse named Celeste and her attempts to find a home and happiness in the face of life's afflictions. When we begin she has a comfy hidey-hole in the base of a house on a plantation near New Orleans in 1821, but she is bullied by two rats and quickly trapped out of her home by the house's cat. Adventuring higher into the house she makes a new nest in a boot, which leads to her adoption by the boot's owner, a teen-aged aspiring artist who i More...
0 comments like
Jul 05, 2010
Jessica rated it: 1 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like
Jun 30, 2010
Destinee rated it: 2 of 5 stars
In the style of Hugo Cabret, this book features large pencil drawings that complement the text. The drawings are really wonderful in their detail and, I think, the most enjoyable part of the book. I also liked the little mouse Celeste herself. Though she never really came alive on the page, what we saw of her was lovable, and her journey to find a home and a friend is compelling.

Ok, now I'm done being nice. I have to say, right off the bat I was not a fan of the second half of the t More...
0 comments like (2 people liked it)
Jun 02, 2010
Margo rated it: 5 of 5 stars
I have wondered for a long time about the relationship between mice and children's books. Few people like the little critters in real life, unless as fodder for science experiments, yet mice are the heroes of more children's books than you can shake a piece of cheese at. I wouldn't be surprised if someone has written a graduate thesis on this topic.

In A Nest for Celeste, Celeste joins a pantheon of unforgettable mice heroes and heroines in both children's novels and picture books. A More...
0 comments like (5 people liked it)
May 14, 2010
Carmine rated it: 3 of 5 stars
A heavily illustrated chapter book (think Hugo Cabret) with a basketweaving mouse protagonist who seems to exists to teach us about James Audubon. Based on an actual period of time James Audubon and his assistant Joseph Mason stayed on a plantation near New Orleans in 1821. Celeste the mouse has some rather human, modern sensibilities like it is wrong to shoot birds just to paint them or to massacre scores of carrier pigeons as they pass over.

The illustrations are beautiful. I loved More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Apr 01, 2010
Pamela rated it: 3 of 5 stars
It took me a while to figure out what bothered me about "Celeste," and I think it has to do with anthropomorphism. On one end of the anthropomorphism scale is the toad-in-a-waistcoat. In toad-in-a-waistcoat the animal is simply a stand-in for a human character; references to real animal behavior, such as lily pad homes or cricket lunches, are thrown in for cuteness's sake. The other end of the anthropomorphic scale is the equivalent of someone at the zoo pounding on a snake's display c More...
0 comments like (3 people liked it)
Mar 23, 2010
Sarah rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This book is written and illustrated in the fashion of Brian Selznick's Caldecott winning The Invention of Hugo Cabret . And like Selznick story, A Nest For Celeste is based around actual events.

This book is told from Celeste's, a field mouse, perspective as she is forced to find a new nest when the family cat begins to stalk her old one. Meanwhile the Pirrie family has welcomed new vistors, Audubon (yes, the famous bird painter) and his young assistant Joseph.

The pa More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Mar 29, 2011
Brittany rated it: 3 of 5 stars
I was looking for something light to read and I had gotten an ARC of this last year. For the most part, I thought this book was mediocre. It wasn't as good as The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread(I have to compare to another mouse story.

The thing I liked most about this book was the art. It was all interesting pencil sketches and it wasn't just a spotty drawing here or there. This book read almost like a picture book.

More...
0 comments like
Sep 03, 2010
Tessa rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like
Apr 01, 2010
Sarah-Greenbeanteenqueen rated it: 3 of 5 stars
About the Book: Celeste is a mouse who lives in a small room inside a house who spends her time making baskets. She is often bullied by two large rats who take her food and one day Celeste is sent further into the house than she's gone before. She befriends a young boy named Joseph, who is staying at the house with Mr. Audubon where they are drawing pictures of birds. Celeste meets many new friends along the way and discovers the meaning of home.

GreenBeanTeenQueen Says: A Nest for Ce More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Mar 23, 2010
Kathy rated it: 5 of 5 stars
An industrious mouse finds a friend when she is discovered by Joseph, John James Audubon's assistant, visiting the Louisiana plantation where she lives. She keeps him company, watches him work, joins his field expeditions, and ventures out on her own, finding other friends and a more permanent home.
This is a charmer, ably told and irresistibly illustrated with pencil drawings, many filling the pages and serving as background to the text as well as accompaniment. It will remind experie More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jun 03, 2010
Melissa rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
4 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jul 29, 2011
Sandybear76 added it
Very lovely pen and ink drawings on just about every page. The tale is about a little mouse living in a big plantation home and John James Audubon has just arrived to paint pictures of the local birds. Audubon earned money by teaching the daughter of the landowner how to dance and to paint. Audobon's young assistant rescues a little mouse, who gets into many adventures. The little mouse Celeste is alone in the big home and must survive the big cat and the two unfriendly, very bossy rats. Celeste More...
0 comments like
Aug 19, 2011
Josiah rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This is my first experience with the work of author/illustrator Henry Cole. A Nest for Celeste was actually on my list of 2010 books that I might have or might not have gotten around to eventually, depending on how things went, but I'm very happy that I chose to read it. Whether judging by the story itself or the awesome pencil art that liberally decorates the novel inside and out, this book is a wonderful experience for readers of any age. It's a simple story that perfectly reflects the old- More...
0 comments like
Sep 08, 2010
Ellie rated it: 5 of 5 stars
342 pages.

2010 978-0-06-170410-5 (trade bdg). 978-0-06-170411-6 (lib. bdg) $17.89

***** 5 stars

I recently noticed a nibbled cookie in the far corner of the rangetop in my kitchen. A field mouse must have entered the kitchen through the hole behind the stove, found the delicacy, and tried to carry it home. I generally prefer fictional mice, like Mickey and Minnie, to real mice, but I appreciate the pluck and ambition of my kitchen mouse. I have these same feelin More...
0 comments like
Sep 29, 2010
Vicki rated it: 4 of 5 stars
Visually this book is stunning - somewhat reminiscent of "The Invention of Hugo Cabret" with it's many wonderful pencil sketches of this adorable mouse all throughout the book. Celeste's story of survival and her quest for a home is good too, but I found the introduction of John James Audubon and his quest to paint all the birds of America somewhat unsettling. I knew that he usually shot the birds he painted, but (unless this is fictionalized) didn't realize he sometimes pinned them l More...
1 comment like
Oct 12, 2010
Pam rated it: 3 of 5 stars
The title and illustrations made me dubious. I feared I was in for another cute book about animals. Well it is a cute book about animals, but pleasantly I was surprised at how interesting and informative it was. Celeste is a mouse that lives in a LA plantation before the civil war. When John James Audubon arrives to study and paint the birds of the bayou, Celeste finds herself the pet of Audobon's teenage assistant. During the adventures Celeste learns what it means to have a home, how to s More...
0 comments like
Sep 07, 2009
Spellbound rated it: 4 of 5 stars
I can't wait until this book comes out. I loved it. Obvious comparisons to Stuart Little, Despereaux, etc., not just because of the choice of a mouse as main character but also because of the spirit of adventure and amazing details that spark the imagination. Celeste is small mouse who lives under the dining room floorboards of a plantation house near New Orleans in the 1800s. She is bullied by the larger rats at the plantation, who demand most of the food scraps she collects in the lovely li More...
0 comments like (1 person liked it)
Jan 11, 2011
Margaret rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
0 comments like
Jan 06, 2011
Patrice rated it: 3 of 5 stars
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here
1 comment like
Nov 15, 2010
Marianne D. rated it: 3 of 5 stars
A snapshot of four months in and around a New Orleans' area home in 1821 while painter John James Audubon and his assistant, young teen Joseph Mason, worked and lived there - all seen through the eyes of a field mouse named Celeste. Descriptions of killing birds so Audubon can pin them in life-like poses and paint them may be disturbing to some readers. Content-wise, I had a problem with Joseph keeping Celeste as a "pet" in his shirt pocket and the mouse acting tame, accepting peanuts More...
0 comments like
Sep 15, 2010
Bridget R. rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Nest for Celeste is a story about friendship. Celeste, a mouse, has two ill-favored friends in the rats Illianna and Trixie. They taunt and abuse Celeste. Luckily, a cat catches Illianna, and Trixie disappears. The incident with the cat leaves Celeste homeless. She ventures upstairs and befriends Joseph, young assistant to the painter John James Audubon.

Celeste doesn't like the way Audubon gets his pictures (killing and posing the birds with wire). She encourages first Cornelius (a More...
0 comments like
Jun 30, 2010
Shannon rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Very appealing graphic novel/chapter book (in the style of Selznick's The Invention of Hugo Cabret), this story told in pictures and text would make a great read-aloud for the younger, picture book set, or a fine read for transitional readers who are moving on up to chapter books. Otherwise, a quick and enchanting read for proficient chapter book readers. Celeste the mouse lives beneath the dusty floorboards of the Pirrie plantation in Louisiana in 1821. In her harrowing escape from the cat, s More...
0 comments like
Dec 14, 2010
Mindy rated it: 5 of 5 stars
A nest for Celeste was a really really good book! I loved it. Celeste is a mouse that makes baskets out of dried grass. She is bossed around by 2 rats. But when one of them gets eaten by a cat, the other doesn't bother her for a while. Celeste lives in a nice house. Then a teenage boy named Joseph, findS her. He is an apprentaince for a man named Audubon. Celetse helps other animals be set free, by making them pose. But then one of the birds that have been captured has asked her for dogwood berr More...
0 comments like
Nov 17, 2010
Miz Lizzie rated it: 3 of 5 stars
A gentle old-fashioned story about a little mouse named Celeste and her search for friends and a home. Almost incidentally, she happens to live in the house of Monsieur Pirrie who is hosting John James Audubon and his apprentice Joseph. A beautiful book to read, with illustrations on almost every page, it could make a pleasant bedtime read-aloud (over consecutive nights) for younger children. It is not, however, a very riveting tale. I read half the book when it first came out but never felt More...
0 comments like
Feb 09, 2012
Brooke rated it: 3 of 5 stars
Well... I really wish I could give this book more stars. I was really looking forward to reading it. The illustrations are beautiful, the bookstore highly recommended it, it was about John Audubon. I did like it, but as I read it aloud to my daughter, I kept wishing it were not quite so gruesome. The gory scenes seemed randomly dropped in without much context to help a young reader process them. I understand the history of Audubon killing the birds he drew, but it seemed unnecessary to take the More...
0 comments like
Mar 16, 2011
Jessica rated it: 4 of 5 stars
This is a very cute children's fiction book about a mouse named Celeste who's looking for a home. Celeste lives in a plantation house and goes through a number of houses that keep getting taken away from her - under the floorboards, in a boot, in a shirt pocket, and even a dollhouse! Celeste's story is also intertwined with the story of John James Audubon as he seeks out birds from all over the country to draw. Celeste is befriended by Audubon's assistant Joseph Mason. With each move to a ne More...
0 comments like