Considering the winter we’ve had (and honestly, are still kind of having) in the northeast where I am, I nearly cried when I saw the crocuses coming up in my mother’s garden last week. While spring is officially here, it never quite feels that way until I see the first flowers and hear the first chirps of the baby birds. Which is why I think the brand new A Nest is Noisy, a beautiful picture book from Dianna Hutts Aston and Sylvia Long is just perfect for children right now.
The fifth in the series of titles from the same authors including An Egg is Quiet and A Butterfly is Patient, the latest book is equally encyclopedic and engaging. The pages are filled with nearly poetic facts about nests and their various denizens from cuckoos and cactus wrens to alligators and African gray tree frogs. Because nests are not just about birds.
If you have a child like my fact-hungry seven-year-old who devours information like this, they will be captivated by plenty of details that I guarantee you don’t know either. (Quick, do you know which two mammals are the only to lay eggs? No fair Googling.) They will want to spot the animals identified in the opening pages throughout the book, or try
Younger siblings will simply enjoy Long’s exquisite watercolors, while you help point out creatures like the Baya Weaver or the Black-tailed Prairie Dog, then see just how many they can play back on the next reading.
I imagine that A Nest Is Noisy will inspire so many children to open their eyes and look up at the trees — and down at their feet — to spot nests of all kinds. And if those nests are quietly empty? Well that’s spring for you.
Find the new hardcover A Nest is Noisy at our affiliate Amazon shipping 4/14/15, or at your local indie bookseller. And if you’re a teacher, a homeschooler or a parent interested in engaging your kids even more, check out the companion teacher’s guide (PDF) for the entire series of books from the authors at Chronicle books.
Happy Easter, Passover and springtime, cool moms!
