What a fun book! Wait, I should tell you about it first, shouldn’t I? Well, this story is about an industrious, little yellow bird in the African Savanna and his adventures in building a nest. This shouldn’t be a difficult endeavor. But, every time he is returns to his newly completed nest, he is greeted by an animal visitor that plans to claim it as his own. So, he builds another nest and the same thing happens. Nest after nest is claimed by animal after animal (gazelle, gorilla, zebra and so forth), until the poor little bird can take it no longer. He enlists the aid of a wildebeest and in one big “BAM” knocks the animals and nests out of the tree. He sadly looks at his ruined nests and the other animals seem to finally realize the error of their ways. They work diligently to build a huge nest in the tree and gently place the little bird into it. He watches them walk a way dejectedly and shouts “Wait!”, invites them to join him and they gladly do so. The story could end here, but the industrious little bird finishes the story by finishing the project he started a the beginning…building his own nest, which is next to his new animal friends.
This story is brimming with fun and comic wit. While the text is spare, it and the illustrations do a fantastic job of giving us a sense of the animals’ attitudes and feelings. The bird’s growing frustration and fatigue as he tries over and over to just build a nest for himself is perfectly pictured in his expressions and words. The zebra is a little bit pompous and the elephant is a little apologetic. And, we can’t help but be satisfied at the end when the bird finishes what he starts and get the nest he really wanted.
Buy this book and wait for the giggles as you read it out loud to your students. It’s that good!!
