Birds Build Nests

by Yvonne Winer, Tony Oliver (Illustrator)

Describes how, where, why, and when birds around the world build nests.

Genres: Picture Books, Birds, Nonfiction, Science, Animals, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 STARS

Lovely! The illustrations are beautiful and full of rich detail of each bird and its nest, eggs and (in some cases) surrounding habitat. I loved them! The accompanying text is pleasant, good for the younger picture book crowd as it's informative and engaging (told in rhyme) without being too bogged down with details.

For example:
"Birds build nests
From mud, rich and brown,
Delicately lined with
Velvet and down.
That's how birds build their nests."

The back matter gives a bit more detail on each of the birds. For example, the above poem is for the Fairy Martin, from Australia, "This bird is an accomplished builder, adept at repairing damanged nests and making new ones using many pellets of mud. They nest in large groups. As many as seven hundred nests have been found in one colony. Apart form using rock overhands and caves, they also use man-made structures such as bridges, culverts and drains to shelter their nests."

I appreciate the variety of birds and nests (from all around the world) shown. I was also pleased to see the list of References as well as Internet Resources for further study.

It was a bit cumbersome flipping back and forth as we read (the names of the birds are, unfortunately, not given beneath the poem or main illustration, only in the back with the "Nest Identification Guide") which is the only reason I'm not giving this a full five stars. Otherwise, I think it's a gem and both my eight-year-old and five-year-old really enjoyed it, too.

[Ryan Moulton · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kids love birds, and this has the best illustrations and poetry of any bird book we've found. It has been my son's choice for last book before bed for a month now.

[Heather · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice little book which used rhyme to talk about the various kinds of nests that birds build. Rather than explain it there is a detailed illustration. My biggest complaint is that it doesn't identify the name of the bird until the end of the book and then you'd have to flip back and forth to look at the nest and the bird. My kids were pretty ticked that there was no 'naming of the bird' as they went.

This is more a visual book than a learn lots of facts book. A good change of pace but not absolutely necessary.

[Sha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a wonderful creation. The pictures are lovely, the message is accurate and the information even rhymes beautifully. What more could you want in a book? As a librarian I highly recommend this children's book.

[Cana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mommy says: Gorgeous illustrations. we had fun discussing which birds we see at our feeders and where they might build their nests.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

just had to look up this book again as it has been requested over & over again for the past 3 years - simply gorgeous illustrations of all types of birds & nests. definitely a favorite at our house.