Birds Make Nests

by Michael Garland

An illustrated introduction to where birds make their homes, all across the globe.

Birds make many kinds of nests in many kinds of places, to keep their eggs safe and to raise their chicks.

In this colorful picture book, acclaimed artist Michael Garland introduces more than twenty species of birds and the intriguing homes they make, from puffins' burrows to orioles' hanging nests.

With simple text, accessible for new readers, this is a perfect introduction to the many ways animals make their homes. The vibrant artwork, created with traditional woodcuts and digital coloring techniques, is labeled with the English common names of each bird shown.


A 2018 NSTA-CBC Outstanding Science Trade Book for Students K-12!
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year (Outstanding Merit)

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 2017

About the author

Author and illustrator Michael Garland was born in Manhattan in 1952. He studied art at Pratt Institute and soon after graduating, he sold his first illustration to True Confessions magazine. He has written or illustrated over 40 books.

Reviews

[Micheline · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a perfect book for young children. Beautiful illustrations and simple sentences but yet an abundance of great vocabulary. I listened to it on a youtube read-aloud and I loved it. she read it for little children and pointed out important details in the pictures.
I found this book on the Children's Book Council website https://www.cbcbooks.org/readers/read...

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations. Show many different kinds of birds and the different nest they build perfect for k-2nd grade.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Garland's illustrations put this book over the top. Beautiful and accurate!

A perfect read for Year of the Bird!

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good introductory information and beautiful woodcut illustrations.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

The artwork carries this story. Basically, it's a labeling of different kinds of birds and the type of nests they make.

[Lorie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful informational picture book to introduce young children to the many styles of nests that birds make or don’t make as in the Brown Headed Cowbird that leave their eggs in other bird’s nests. Each page or page spread offers one simple line of text in bold type that describes the information in the illustrations. The rest of the page is given over to gorgeous woodcut and digital media illustrations with the name of the birds depicted on that page. Additional birds are depicted on front matter pages like the title and dedication pages and on the front and back covers.

While this book will be loved by the preschool crowd, the enjoyment will extend to children of all ages. One amazing feature is the inclusion on the publisher page the educational standards is book meets for K-2nd grade. This makes recommending it to teachers or story visits by the librarian tied to standards they can document. I would highly recommend this book for any school or public library.

A popular topic with preschool and early elementary programs, but also just a very cool book in so many ways. I would highly recommend this book for purchase.

This book was provided by the publisher for professional review by SWON Libraries.

[Emme Koutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is all about bird nests. It discusses all the different places where birds make their nests, like the ground or up in trees. Also, what types of things that birds use to make their nests out of. Finally, the book says why birds make nests, which is to keep their eggs safe until they are ready to leave and make their own nest. Additionally, On each page their is a different kind of bird and in small print it says what kind of bird it is. The bird on the page correlates to the kind of nest being made. This is a great educational book for children. There are not a lot of words on every page but still enough that each kind of nest is described very well. Also, by knowing what kind of bird is making the nest can help children learn a lot about birds. I gave this book five stars because it is a very good book. This story is very easy to follow and contains lots of information, which is why I like it so much. The illustrations also do a great job of showing what each bird looks like, which can help students point out the birds when they see them in real life. For being such a short story it is great how much information you can get out of it.

[Kyndal Bard · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book about different kinds of birds and it shows you the difference in the male and female in a couple of the species. It also tells you about the nests they make. It tells you the shape of the nests , the location of the nests or what the nest is made of. It is the perfect book for young readers or readers just starting out (4-8 years old ) because it uses very simple sentences while also still being educational. The pictures play a big part in the reading because it shows you just as much as the words tell you. The pictures are very detailed and accurate to real life. This book would be helpful when talking ab different animals habitats.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Michael Garland is the award-winning and best-selling author and illustrator of more than 30 children's books. The artwork in this exquisitely illustrated picture book depicting the many kinds of nests made by birds carries the story. Garland has used traditional woodcut and digital tools accompanied by very sparse text: One simple line of text that describes information depicted in the illustrations. The illustrations will engage readers and will generate questions on each eye-catching spread.

[Jasmine · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book explains about birds nests in a variety of ways. It explains the different kinds of nests birds make, what materials each use, the location, and why they build them. This can help children to understand that not all birds make nests out of sticks and are in the trees. I would like to add on how it was really nice that it provided the illustrations of different breeds of birds and their names. As well, it establishes the different physical characteristics of some bird species based on gender. I just wish that the names of the birds were a bit bigger to read.

[Randi Triantafillou · Rating 3 out of 5]

As I read this story, I found it is very informative as it discusses different types of nests birds make in different places to protect their eggs and chicks. Although this book provides much information I did not find it very engaging, and feel maybe this could be used as an independent read but wouldn't use for a read aloud. Lastly although I don't feel its an engaging book, I do feel their are beautiful images displayed in this text. By: Randi Triantafillou

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every primary group I read this one too loved it. It's the perfect nonfiction picture book for that age group. There are plenty of opportunities to stop and talk about what they are wondering about and what they have noticed. My favourite conversations were about why all the male birds were so colourful compared to the females. A kindergarten student surmised that, "the mom's have to be camouflaged because they have to be safe to look after the babies."
The artwork is absolutely glorious!

[Gina Gabriele · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it had a variety of birds in it, including flamingos & ostriches. The story also described how each bird makes their own nests based on what type of bird they are. It was fascinating learning about the different types of nests that birds make. The author also described the purposes of birds having nests, including to keep their eggs/babies safe. It was great to learn about something I hadn't known before!

[CasitaSavage · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simple and the exact opposite of wordy. Read as is will be nice for littles (3-5) with short attention spans. In addition this also works for the 6-7 age frame because the beautifully detailed and realistic illustrations make way for further exploration. I used this book in my homeschool for ages 3, 6, and 7 in a lesson on this topic.
Activity idea: Have kiddos draw a bird nest after the story. One of mine drew eggs in theirs while the others did chicks, and an empty nest lol.

[Aubrey May · Rating 3 out of 5]

Birds Make Nests by Michael Garland is a nonfiction book all about nests. It discusses the different types of nests, what they are made of, and what they are for. I thought this was a cute book but I felt it could use a little more detail. I would use this book in my classroom when students are working on their reading skills.

[Carol Doeringer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for the youngest bird watcher. Each featured bird is introduced using short sentences that explain where, how, or what material the bird uses to build its nest. The birds are a mix of familiar backyard species and others a child is less likely to see. The illustrations are beautiful and highly effective at showing the birds’ nesting habits.

[Alissa J. Zavalianos · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was awesome. I love how the story is more factual, but my favorite part is that all the pictures are labeled. The illustrations are beautiful and also help to inform the reader of what the nests actually look like.

[Emily Beese · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is very informative for young readers. It shows the different types of Nests that birds make, what they make them out of and why they make them. This would be a great book for a young child who wants a bird as a pet, or is interested in birds.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully vibrant illustrated book about bird's nests and their variety--their shapes, location, and shapes. Best as a on the lap read, but could be shared with a group of preschoolers. 3.5 rounded up.

[MaryLibrarianOH · Rating 3 out of 5]

Learn about all the ways birds create their nests. Really like that all the different birds are labeled.

Beautiful illustrations.

[Christina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice non-fiction picture book.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full review for SLC

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

The text of this book is pretty simple, but the illustrations will keep readers interested and asking questions on every page.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Etsy simple nonfiction introduction, with textural pictures.

[Rebecca Caufman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple book for the K-2 range. Shows the different types of nest birds make along with the birds that make them.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a simple non-fiction text. The pictures were absolutely stunning. My almost three year old was engaged throughout the book.

[Joan Arbogast · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover of this book caught my attention. The illustrations support the slight text.

[Laura McLoughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really beautiful illustrations. Bird watching kids will love this book.

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

A detailed look at what nests house which birds.

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book about birds!! Great information and easy enough for children to understand!