Common Sense Media Review
By Regan McMahon
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Lively, poetic takes on different birds' nesting habits.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
MAMA BUILT A LITTLE NEST profiles the nesting habits of a variety of birds in pithy first-person verse, ostensibly from the point of view of the baby bird. Lots of surprising facts about where birds raise their young -- on ledges, inside holes in trees, hanging off branches, burrowing underground, floating on water, etc. -- and what materials they use, from grass and twigs to spit and spiderwebs. Each spread offers a four-line poem on the left-hand page and a couple of lines or a paragraph of factual information on the right-hand one. It ends with a comforting view of a bedroom where a teddy bear's on the bed, and the last line of the poem reads: "your nest is called a bed."
Is It Any Good?
Each example in Mama Built a Little Nest is truly amazing and fascinating, and easy for little ones to grasp. The four-line poems are cleaver and fun while synthesizing how this nest is different from others, using words a kid can understand. For example, a baby hummingbird observes: "Mama built a little nest,/ a cup so wee and snug/, with walls of moss and roof of sky/ and silky cobweb rug."
Illustrator Steve Jenkins' mixed-media collages on a stark white background are spare, sharp, and clear, helping kids focus on what's distinctive about each type of bird and nest.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about birds. Do you ever watch them up close in your backyard, in the park, or on nature walks? Have you ever seen a nest? What was it made of? Was it in a tree?
What's fun about learning about how creatures live and raise their young? What other books about animals or birds have you enjoyed? How does reading a book with science and nature facts compare with reading a made-up story?
Take a walk and count how many different birds you see. Maybe a grown-up can tell you the names of the ones you see, or maybe you already know some of their names. Then draw a picture of your favorite bird.
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Steve Jenkins
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : STEM , Animals ( Wild Animals )
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : Beach Lane Books
- Publication date : March 18, 2014
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 8
- Number of pages : 40
- Available on : Nook, Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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