My nest is best

Eastman, P. D. (1968). My Nest Is Best. New York: Random House Inc.

ISBN#: 978-0-375-83267-3

Summary

The book is about two birds who are trying to find the best nest for themselves. At the beginning, Mr. Bird thinks that his old nest was the best, but Mrs. Bird disagrees. Therefore they go looking for a place to build their new nest. They look and look and finally, Mrs. Bird decides to build the nest in a bell tower. Unfortunately, once the nest was built, the bell rings and it frightens Mrs. Bird to take off. Mr. Bird comes back and does not see Mrs. Bird. He searches for her and comes upon his old nest with Mrs. Bird in it. Mrs. Bird tells him that that the old nest was the best.

Why for 3 to 5 Year Olds

I would use this book for 3 to 5 year olds because the book itself is interactive. The children would love how some parts of the book could move in certain ways. This creates a hand-on experience for children and keeps the children intrigued about what would happen next. I would also read this book to children because the book has a simple storyline and children can learn about birds and their way of life through colourful illustrations. I like how the illustrations are simple, yet descriptive. It shows movement and emotions in the pictures. The illustrations are easy to look at and are very appealing, especially when the illustrations are interactive sometimes.  The mood that the illustrations and the book itself would offer to the children would be hope. The sense of being hopeful would possibly encourage children to go explore and achieve their own goals.

Provocation

For one of my provocations, I would bring in a nest and leave it out where circle time would take place, perhaps where the educator normally would sit. The children may wonder why there would be a nest in the classroom. Another provocation I might do would be posting picture of bird on the door that children most often use and tape feathers all around the classroom.  This would get the children to think about what animal would have feathers and they would connect it to the pictures on the door. Later as I read the book, they would also be able to make a relationship between the pictures, the feather and the book.  Just before reading the book, I might get the children to draw a picture of what they thought a bird would look like. While they are drawing birds, I would go around asking questions about what they knew about birds.

Ways to Present

1.     TV Box

This TV box will have pictures that are on a scroll and as I am telling the story, I would be scrolling down to each picture. The pictures on the scroll would be ones I think would best represent different parts of the story. For example, I would draw a picture of a nest with two brown birds as the first picture on the scroll. Next would be a picture of a tree with a raccoon and so forth. When drawing on the scroll, I could be creative with the pictures, as long as it is still telling the story of the book.

2.      Story Bag

I would need to either buy individual characters from a story or make them myself. The characters I need for this story would be:  two brown birds, one mama bird and one papa bird,  a baby bird in an egg,  a tree, a raccoon, a mailbox, a nest, a bell tower, some fake hair, some straw, some stuffing and a bird house. When I am telling the story, slowly remove each character from the bag, place and move each character around and imitate what is happening in the story.  By having the characters in a bag, it would create curiosity amongst the children. Using the props, I would stop and ask children what would happen at certain points of the story and have them wonder whether the two birds can find the best nest.

3.     Transparency Story

Materials needed for a transparency story would be transparent paper, coloured sharpies and scissors. I would need to draw each character and objects from the story and cut them out. The characters or items I would draw out would be:  two brown birds, one mama bird and one papa bird, a baby bird in an egg, a tree, a raccoon, a mailbox, a nest, a bell tower, some fake hair, some straw, some stuffing and a bird house.  I would also need to draw a background for the whole story. The transparency story allows me to remove or add on characters or items while telling the story. If you like, you can have it on a light table or have it placed onto a white poster board.

4.     A chant

This chant I wrote tells the story of the book. So instead of reading the actual book, I can sing this song to children for them to listen to. This chant can be sung to the metronome, tempo of 60 or to any simple beat-boxing tone. The chant can be changed to a slower beat or to a faster beat.  I can also get the children to clap for me while we are chanting the lyrics.

My Nest is Best

Once upon a time in a nursery rhyme,

There were 2 birds,

Mr. Bird and Mrs. Bird

They had a tiny problem.

They needed a new nest,

Where they could live and possibly rest.

But Mr. Bird would sing:

“I love my house.

I love my nest.

In all the world,

My nest is best.”

“No, I say. No, I say” said Mrs. Bird

“It’s not the best.

I’m tired of this nest.”

Off they flew, off they flew

To search for a nest,

They would come to think in being the best.

“This looks nice.

This tree looks nice.

Let’s move in, let’s move in.”

Raccoon comes out and is upset,

“Shoo, shoo, shoo,

I won’t welcome you.

Off you go, off you go.”

Off they flew, off they flew

To search for a nest,

They would come to think in being the best.

“This looks nice.

This box looks nice.

Let’s move in, let’s move in.”

But the mailman says,

“Shoo, shoo, shoo,

I won’t let you.

Off you go, off you go.”

Off they flew, off they flew

To search for a nest,

They would come to think in being the best.

Mrs. Bird says:

“I like this one, I like this one.

Our home is here.

Let’s work hard to get the nest done.”

We need some stuffing,

We need some hair,

We really need some straws.

Work, work as a pair.

“I like this place,

There’s room and space.

I sure have taste.

If I don’t say so myself.”

Dong, dong, dong,

Dong, dong, dong,

The bell is ringing, loud and clear

Mrs. Bird stunned and confused.

 Fly, fly, fly.

In flies Mr. Bird,

Mrs. Bird is gone.

Gone, gone, gone.

Gone, gone, gone.

Off he flew, off he flew,

To search for Mrs. Bird,

Asking “where are you?”

Rain and wind, there’s no way to see.

Bump and crash,

“Ouch! oh my, my house I see.”

“I hear Mrs. Bird say”

“I love my house.

I love my nest.

In all the world,

This nest is best.”

“Crack” goes the egg, and the baby bird agreed,

That he loved his nest, yes indeed, indeed, indeed.

Extensions

One of the extensions I could do after reading the book would be taking the children on a field trip to a nearby bird sanctuary or to a park where there are a lot of birds to see. An example would be the George C. Bird Sanctuary in Delta. There the children can see birds in their natural environment. Another extension I would provide the children would be having them to build simple bird houses (providing the materials) as an art project and hang them outside of the classroom. They can decorate them and see whether a bird would make a nest in their bird houses.   I would also read another book about bird as another extension. A possible book I think would connect with the story would be “Backyard Birds” by J. Latimer, K. S. Nolting and R. T. Peterson.  Lastly, another extension would be spending time just outdoors, have the children look for birds in the sky and wonder what the bird are possibly doing or thinking. All these extensions might lead to a big class project where I would get all the children to name and draw each type of bird on a very large long roll of white paper and hang it up in the classroom.