Nesting

Like proverbial spring, this story begins with a song: “From the branch of an apple tree, a robin starts to sing.” Two robins meet and begin to build a nest. Eliding reproductive mechanics, Cole’s detailed story follows the birds as eggs are laid and hatch, and as the parents work to feed the chicks and keep them safe in a world of dangers, including dramatic scenes of a thunderstorm and a hungry snake (“The robins fight back! They dive and swoop!”). The chicks grow: they fill the nest, then drop, “one by one,” to the ground below. The book closes with the poignant image of the abandoned nest, filled with snow. Cole’s fine-line drawings—black-and-white, with occasional washes of robin’s-egg blue—use short, agitated lines and layered hatching to richly render the birds’ world. A brief author’s note offers additional information about robin nesting habits. Ages 4–8. [em](Mar.) [/em]