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This Is the Nest That Robin Built
A robin’s animal friends help build her nest in this cumulative collage picture book.
Robin is building a nest, and her friends are ready to help! The squirrel trims the twigs. The dog brings the string. The horse shares his straw. And then a surprise gatefold spread reveals how Robin knits them all together to make a safe and cozy home for her babies.
Robin is building a nest, and her friends are ready to help! The squirrel trims the twigs. The dog brings the string. The horse shares his straw. And then a surprise gatefold spread reveals how Robin knits them all together to make a safe and cozy home for her babies.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2018
8 people are currently reading
135 people want to read
About the author
Denise Fleming
44Ìýbooks75ÌýfollowersDenise Fleming has written and illustrated many children’s picture books, including In the Tall, Tall Grass, Shout! Shout It Out!, and Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy. She won a Caldecott Honor for In the Small, Small Pond. Denise creates her colorful illustrations by pouring colored paper pulp through hand-cut stencils. She lives in Toledo, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
January 21, 2019
While I appreciate the work that went into these illustrations, I can't say that I find them aesthetically pleasing (although I did like all the ladybugs). The text simply follows the pattern of the rhyme, "This Is the House That Jack Built"... except it's about a bird instead of a person. All the animals help out in their own way, whether it's nibbling twigs or mixing the mud, and provide the robin with all the materials she needs for her nest.
I can't really fault the story; it's simple and it works. I just don't think this is a book I'd want to look at over and over again.
I can't really fault the story; it's simple and it works. I just don't think this is a book I'd want to look at over and over again.
January 16, 2019
Author/illustrator Denise Fleming uses the classic British nursery rhyme and cumulative tale, "This Is the House That Jack Built," as the basis of her new picture-book about a robin building a nest. Each of the robin's animal friends provide some of the material for the nest, from the mud mixed by the pig to the straw shared by the house, and the robin provides the labor, the eggs, and the chick-rearing...
An enjoyable book, one which, with its cumulative structure and syncopated rhymes, just begs to be read aloud, This Is the Nest That Robin Built is also an engaging exploration of the natural history of the nest-making done by robins and other birds. The artwork, created using collage and various print-making techniques, is colorful and appealing, with a visibly "put together" appearance that suits the story-line perfectly. Recommended to anyone looking for new presentations of an old cumulative tale, or for picture-books about birds, the nests they build, and the young they raise...
An enjoyable book, one which, with its cumulative structure and syncopated rhymes, just begs to be read aloud, This Is the Nest That Robin Built is also an engaging exploration of the natural history of the nest-making done by robins and other birds. The artwork, created using collage and various print-making techniques, is colorful and appealing, with a visibly "put together" appearance that suits the story-line perfectly. Recommended to anyone looking for new presentations of an old cumulative tale, or for picture-books about birds, the nests they build, and the young they raise...
November 1, 2018
Lovely Denise Fleming illustrations.
May 2, 2018
Denise Fleming’s This Is the Nest That Robin Built is a playful picture book that will enthrall young readers already familiar with Fleming’s many other books or the Eric Carle classics. The narrative involves various animals making unconscious contributions to a robin’s nest. Each colorful page spread builds upon the previous pages, repeating the prior text and adding new details. Fleming chooses vivid verbs (“cushions,� “anchor,� “plasters�) and adjectives (“soupy,� “brittle,� “rumpled�) that will expand vocabularies through ear-catching repetition. Large foldouts can be a surprising delight in a picture book, and This Is the Nest That Robin Built features a nice one as the robin completes its nest.
March 12, 2018
A creative take on "The House That Jack Built" where each animal contributes material to helps Robin make a nest. If I use it for story time, I would make it an interactive story: each child gets a picture of a material used by Robin to the bird nest and then the child holds up the picture every time their material is mentioned in the story.
April 23, 2019
The book, This Is the Nest That Robin Built, was written and illustrated by Denise Fleming. To illustrate the book, Denise used printmaking techniques combined with collage. What I found really cool was that the book provides a site to learn how she created her book and to create similar looking crafts and activities! Beneficial for teachers to use and combine with their classroom. This book is, self-explanatory, about Robin building her nest, with the help of her friends! Before reading the book, you see there is a different animal in each page doing something on their own, and some things that aren’t explained in text! For example, a dog looks like it’s being chased by a chicken as it has a string in its mouth, but the text doesn’t talk about the chicken at all. Same with Horse and the mouse.
While reading the third person point of view and looking at the illustrations as a support to the texts, the majority of the bright and colorful illustrations seem to naturally focus on the characters rather than any action. But, once it’s time for Robin to build the nest, there is a foldable page showing each step Robin takes along side with the texts focusing on those acts. With each item found from Robin’s “friends� you can see being used to help created Robin’s home.
The book is simplistically informative and cute. Denise introduces where Robin gets her “not too big� materials for her nest and her environment to be surrounded and made by neighboring friends. Each friend is stated and what they did that had eventually been made into the nest, which is shown as little steps Robin did near the end of the book. When showing all of this, she explains what’s happening in an almost rhythmic and repetitive way to playfully show how all the natural materials came together! As I noticed the accumulation of the text, it reminded me of There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. In overall, I enjoyed this book and am planning to find a literacy and art lesson for Kindergartners with the use of this book. I’m thinking maybe a read aloud and then having students attempt to make a nest with each member of a group having their own material so they have to work together.
While reading the third person point of view and looking at the illustrations as a support to the texts, the majority of the bright and colorful illustrations seem to naturally focus on the characters rather than any action. But, once it’s time for Robin to build the nest, there is a foldable page showing each step Robin takes along side with the texts focusing on those acts. With each item found from Robin’s “friends� you can see being used to help created Robin’s home.
The book is simplistically informative and cute. Denise introduces where Robin gets her “not too big� materials for her nest and her environment to be surrounded and made by neighboring friends. Each friend is stated and what they did that had eventually been made into the nest, which is shown as little steps Robin did near the end of the book. When showing all of this, she explains what’s happening in an almost rhythmic and repetitive way to playfully show how all the natural materials came together! As I noticed the accumulation of the text, it reminded me of There Was An Old Lady Who Swallowed A Fly. In overall, I enjoyed this book and am planning to find a literacy and art lesson for Kindergartners with the use of this book. I’m thinking maybe a read aloud and then having students attempt to make a nest with each member of a group having their own material so they have to work together.
May 31, 2018
Great "House that Jack Built" poem, fun and playful and as always Fleming's illustrations are stunning.
May 4, 2020
3.5*
January 3, 2022
What a fantastic beginning ecology title! It is based on the ‘House that Jack built� format and works perfectly. It shows how many animals had a hand in collecting materials such as string, twigs, and grass that goes into the nest that robin built. I’m not a huge fan of the illustrations but they’re ok. Definitely recommended for beginning scientists!
September 20, 2018
Another lovely book from one of the Too Good To Win A Caldecott Club. I like the way she uses the "House that Jack Built" style, with the other animals helping Robin to build her nest. The text doesn't rhyme, and that's a good thing, because instead it has a good reading rhythm, which matters more.
The animals are as sweet as any Fleming has ever done, and I like the little ladybug appearing in each picture for the children to find, a motif she has used in a number of her books. And Robin isn't a Disney animal, but in the last pages, as her fledglings fly off on their own, there is a poignancy parents can relate to.
My one gripe is the fold out double page. It isn't a gimmick or something special, it just reiterates the whole text up till then, and it is going to get torn out by toddler hands. Still, a lovely, lovely book to go on the shelf next to the Rockwells immortal
The animals are as sweet as any Fleming has ever done, and I like the little ladybug appearing in each picture for the children to find, a motif she has used in a number of her books. And Robin isn't a Disney animal, but in the last pages, as her fledglings fly off on their own, there is a poignancy parents can relate to.
My one gripe is the fold out double page. It isn't a gimmick or something special, it just reiterates the whole text up till then, and it is going to get torn out by toddler hands. Still, a lovely, lovely book to go on the shelf next to the Rockwells immortal
July 24, 2018
This book tells the story of how a robin's nest was built by many animals through the passing of time. The text is cumbersome and gets to be too much of a mouthful. The story quickly gets overwhelming, and I can see many children losing patience/interest. The ending is underwhelming, as a baby robin flies away with only a "bye!" The book earns an extra star for the illustrations, which are mostly quite lovely, but can also be a tad overwhelming with all of the different textures coming together on one page.
August 22, 2018
This is Denise Fleming at her best. This is another beautiful book with her signature and famous collage artwork. This book shows the building of the nest, piece by piece, the eggs, the nestlings, and the flight from the nest. It is an excellent science book for very young ones.
April 25, 2018
Have you ever seen one of those books where you are immediately drawn to the cover? Maybe it is the colors used, the type of illustration, the font of the title, or even the shape of the book � this is one of those books. Denise Fleming’s beautiful picture book This is the Nest That Robin Built is reminiscent of similar rhyming stories such as This is the House That Jack Built or even the Halloween take off The House That Drac Built. In this story, Robin is building her nest with help from other nearby animals such as a squirrel, horse, pig, dog, and rabbit. Each animal contributes in their unique way to make a strong and safe nest for Robin’s eggs.
The rhythmic and repetitive nature of the story will please even the youngest audience, especially when they are able to chime in with the repetitive phrases of the story. The phrase “anchor the nest that Robin built� appears eight times in the story (perfect for audience participation). What also makes this story an interactive read is that children can have fun spotting the three ladybugs that appear on each page. I love books that have those simple features! I think what really makes this book enjoyable for both children and adults are the illustrations � similar to the textured collage illustrations of Eric Carle. The author even provides her website where you can see exactly how this process is done for this book � which makes you appreciate them even more.
I have always enjoyed stories with repetitive phrases because the kids just gravitate toward the words and enjoy repeating along � they almost feel like they are reading. It is a wonderful interactive component. This book also opens up discussion on how animals live by how and what they contributed to the nest � a pig that rolls in mud is responsible for plaster, a squirrel can trim twigs to a useable size with its sharp teeth, and a dog offer string from a rug it has undone.
An enjoyable read � perfect for ushering in spring after the winter months!
The rhythmic and repetitive nature of the story will please even the youngest audience, especially when they are able to chime in with the repetitive phrases of the story. The phrase “anchor the nest that Robin built� appears eight times in the story (perfect for audience participation). What also makes this story an interactive read is that children can have fun spotting the three ladybugs that appear on each page. I love books that have those simple features! I think what really makes this book enjoyable for both children and adults are the illustrations � similar to the textured collage illustrations of Eric Carle. The author even provides her website where you can see exactly how this process is done for this book � which makes you appreciate them even more.
I have always enjoyed stories with repetitive phrases because the kids just gravitate toward the words and enjoy repeating along � they almost feel like they are reading. It is a wonderful interactive component. This book also opens up discussion on how animals live by how and what they contributed to the nest � a pig that rolls in mud is responsible for plaster, a squirrel can trim twigs to a useable size with its sharp teeth, and a dog offer string from a rug it has undone.
An enjoyable read � perfect for ushering in spring after the winter months!
October 17, 2018
This latest Denise Fleming picture book is a sure-fire classic. Her densely-layered, mixed-media-print-collage illustrations depict nature perfectly and intrigue kids as thoroughly as the subject matter does. What kid hasn't had a chance to examine a robin nest up closely? None, I hope, but whether they have or not, this book will be a winner. The narration is a variation of "This is the house that jack built", so it provides plenty of repetitive patterning, sequencing, and genuine construction information. In our "maker" world, readers will engage with the everyday creatures, materials, and processes leading to the eventual structure of a robin nest. Each stanza includes a line with a pair of familiar but specific descriptive words. Overall, this book offers an appealing mentor text for writing and welcomes comparison to the many other "This is the ____" spinoff titles.
What elevates this above others, in my opinion, is the many ways it shines: the complex content of each page/stage, the predictability of the result with a satisfying pop at the end, and Fleming's art, of course. The back cover includes a link and invitation from Fleming to visit online and view the creation of the book in stages, making it a teaching resource for art as well.
What elevates this above others, in my opinion, is the many ways it shines: the complex content of each page/stage, the predictability of the result with a satisfying pop at the end, and Fleming's art, of course. The back cover includes a link and invitation from Fleming to visit online and view the creation of the book in stages, making it a teaching resource for art as well.
September 26, 2018
This is the Nest that Robin Built by Denise Fleming. PICTURE BOOK Beach Lane Books (Simon and Schuster), 2018. $18. 9781481430838
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) � OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
In the same style as This is the House that Jack Built, the reader is taken through the steps a robin takes in building her nest. Different animals play a role in providing the supplies for a well-made nest, including straw from the horse barn and mud from the pig pen. When the robin is done with her nest, her little blue eggs are placed inside until they hatch, grow up and leave the nest.
If you are looking for a book about how nests are built, this is a simple and fun explanation. Because of the rhythm, this makes for a fun read aloud. The illustrations are a collage and it comes across a bit messy, which isn’t very appealing (especially the pig pen picture). There is also a fold out page that shows the whole process, but I think fold out pages are hard for a library book as they tend to get ripped and folded up wrong.
C. Peterson
BUYING ADVISORY: EL (K-3) � OPTIONAL
AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE
In the same style as This is the House that Jack Built, the reader is taken through the steps a robin takes in building her nest. Different animals play a role in providing the supplies for a well-made nest, including straw from the horse barn and mud from the pig pen. When the robin is done with her nest, her little blue eggs are placed inside until they hatch, grow up and leave the nest.
If you are looking for a book about how nests are built, this is a simple and fun explanation. Because of the rhythm, this makes for a fun read aloud. The illustrations are a collage and it comes across a bit messy, which isn’t very appealing (especially the pig pen picture). There is also a fold out page that shows the whole process, but I think fold out pages are hard for a library book as they tend to get ripped and folded up wrong.
C. Peterson
May 16, 2018
A springtime take on the nursery rhyme, "The House That Jack Built," this picture book features a robin building her nest with the help of a series of animals. Denise Fleming's collage style illustrations are beautiful, perfectly capturing the shapes and textures of each animal depicted. I especially love the double-page spread with the newly hatched baby robins with the little wisps of feathers. I also like some of the word choice Fleming uses - her poem is rich with descriptive adjectives and verbs like "brittle" and "plasters." These words will probably be new to many young readers and could be a good tool for building vocabulary. However, I would hesitate to use this at storytime because it's just so wordy, I'd be scared of losing the kids' attention. This would probably be better a better choice for one-on-one sharing, or with small groups of elementary schoolers instead of preschoolers.
October 22, 2020
This one is between two and three stars for me.
The story line is OK, and I tried not to let it bother me too much that that is not how robins make nests. I did enjoy the teamwork despite the inaccuracies. I also appreciated that Fleming recognized that it is, in fact, the female robins who build their own nests. But in this case, she didn't really build her own nest; others all did it with her, which, for me, takes away a bit from the female protagonist of it. And, robin herself only makes a very brief appearance at the end of the book. I found it all a bit disconcerting.
The illustrations are also OK. I appreciated the construction and creativeness of the pictures. But, I also found them to be very heavy, with no where in them giving any room to breathe.
For both text and pictures, I liked the idea more than the execution, but in both cases they were OK, bordering on good. So, I rounded up to three stars.
The story line is OK, and I tried not to let it bother me too much that that is not how robins make nests. I did enjoy the teamwork despite the inaccuracies. I also appreciated that Fleming recognized that it is, in fact, the female robins who build their own nests. But in this case, she didn't really build her own nest; others all did it with her, which, for me, takes away a bit from the female protagonist of it. And, robin herself only makes a very brief appearance at the end of the book. I found it all a bit disconcerting.
The illustrations are also OK. I appreciated the construction and creativeness of the pictures. But, I also found them to be very heavy, with no where in them giving any room to breathe.
For both text and pictures, I liked the idea more than the execution, but in both cases they were OK, bordering on good. So, I rounded up to three stars.
March 13, 2018
The tips of tulips are poking up through the soil. Some days there is a hint of warmth in the wind. The next day snow covers everything before noon but vanishes within several hours. There are new notes in the birdsong. The robins are here.
Ever since 1931 the American robin has been the state bird of Michigan. Their presence after winter, rather than the calendar, is a sure sign spring is arriving. This Is the NEST That ROBIN Built (with a little help from her friends) (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, March 6, 2018) written and illustrated by Denise Fleming commemorates the season and animals of the forest, field and farm in her creative take on a familiar rhythm and rhyme.
This is my full recommendation:
Ever since 1931 the American robin has been the state bird of Michigan. Their presence after winter, rather than the calendar, is a sure sign spring is arriving. This Is the NEST That ROBIN Built (with a little help from her friends) (Beach Lane Books, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, March 6, 2018) written and illustrated by Denise Fleming commemorates the season and animals of the forest, field and farm in her creative take on a familiar rhythm and rhyme.
This is my full recommendation:
April 9, 2018
This picture book offers a riff on the “House That Jack Built� story by featuring a robin builiding a nest with help from a variety of other animals. Squirrel trims the twigs, dog provides the string, horse shares his straw and so on. Eventually the nest is built and lined with soft items and then the eggs are laid. The story continues all the way through hatching and ends as the little robins are taking their first flight.
The traditional structure of the story works well here and Fleming offers just the right rhythm to make the book a pleasure to read aloud. As always, Fleming’s art is approachable and wonderfully textured and organic. Her use of layered collage is bright and friendly. A joy to share, this picture book is just right for spring.
The traditional structure of the story works well here and Fleming offers just the right rhythm to make the book a pleasure to read aloud. As always, Fleming’s art is approachable and wonderfully textured and organic. Her use of layered collage is bright and friendly. A joy to share, this picture book is just right for spring.
May 30, 2018
Good intro to connection of animals and their activities. The story structure is like This is the House that Jack Built, with each animal introduced in the first sentence in capital letters. Excellent vocabulary to share and discuss -- cushion, bind, soupy, anchor, brittle, nestlings. The book is better for one-on-one or small group sharing in order to look at the illustrations closeup. Children will enjoy finding the ladybugs on every spread after the dedication page. Fleming created her usual lovely, bright collages, although some have aspects a little difficult to discern; e.g., the eggs look to be one odd construction instead of three separate eggs. Sadly, the two-page spreads don't always line up at the gutter either.
November 5, 2018
Denise Fleming has given us a beautiful book to read in Spring or any time of year...
Using the same form as "The House That Jack Built", Fleming scaffolds a story of all the things that go into building a robin's nest. The text is smooth throughout, with great adjectives for each item listed. Great predictability. I like the way she turns it around at the end by reversing the order of items on the very last list.
Illustrations were created using print-making techniques combined with collage. The color pallette has very lime-y and yellowish greens contrasting with other bright colors, making the visuals match the cheery text. There is so much action in each page -- it's a feast for the eyes.
Perfect for a preschool crowd!
Using the same form as "The House That Jack Built", Fleming scaffolds a story of all the things that go into building a robin's nest. The text is smooth throughout, with great adjectives for each item listed. Great predictability. I like the way she turns it around at the end by reversing the order of items on the very last list.
Illustrations were created using print-making techniques combined with collage. The color pallette has very lime-y and yellowish greens contrasting with other bright colors, making the visuals match the cheery text. There is so much action in each page -- it's a feast for the eyes.
Perfect for a preschool crowd!
March 15, 2019
Structured like "this is the house that Jack built," this is the story of how a robin builds her nest out of various materials contributed (not factually accurate) by other creatures. The illustrations are a combination of collage and print-making techniques - bright, choppy, messy. Other reviews suggest you either love 'em or hate 'em (I love them). Will probably not work well for storytime/read-alouds, because the text doesn't flow that well, and as the nest and its contents grow, it becomes a bit cumbersome to recite all of the parts. Might have worked better as a nonfiction picture book (dropping the contributions aspect).
September 5, 2023
Goodreader, are you familiar with the traditional earworm called, "This is the house that Jack built"?
Then the plot of this cumulative tale will be familiar to you. Only this time a Robin is building a nest.
Plus, author and illustrator Denise Fleming has furnished the story (as well as the nest itself) with delicious details. For instance, the nest is:
cushioned with grass, fresh and sweet
Ultimately, all the features of this nest fit together like the pieces of a preschooler's jigsaw puzzle. Most satisfyingly, a triple-page spread summarizes all those portions of this beautifully illustrated -- and mostly verbal -- puzzle.
FIVE STARS, with admiration.
Then the plot of this cumulative tale will be familiar to you. Only this time a Robin is building a nest.
Plus, author and illustrator Denise Fleming has furnished the story (as well as the nest itself) with delicious details. For instance, the nest is:
cushioned with grass, fresh and sweet
Ultimately, all the features of this nest fit together like the pieces of a preschooler's jigsaw puzzle. Most satisfyingly, a triple-page spread summarizes all those portions of this beautifully illustrated -- and mostly verbal -- puzzle.
FIVE STARS, with admiration.
April 23, 2018
Charming book! I think it will do well for a story time reading. Great spin off the House that Jack Built cumulative story; it really works well! Loved the illustrations! I had to look up Denise Flemings website to learn about gelatin plates for print making.... A whole new art to explore; so exciting! I bet making prints would make a good activity for story time, too. Littles can use rubber stampers, but olders can make their own, or try gelatin plated. Great book (like all the others by Fleming!).
July 9, 2018
A fun, interactive story that fans of animals will enjoy reading. Great for spring time, young readers will enjoy seeing how Robin, and each of her friends help her make her nest. Each friend has something unique to offer her; from the mud that holds the nest together, to the twigs and various other things she needs. This story is reminiscent of Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See in both the repetitive story telling, and illustrations. This book is a great addition to elementary school classrooms.
September 6, 2018
This Is the Nest That Robin Built - A well-thought nature book that covers a lot of ground for an early science learner and enthusiast! Fleming explains the process of robin building a bird's nest all the way through to the little fledglings leaving the nest. This is an excellent educational tool! The use of collage & print-making techniques makes this an appealing picture book. See which friends in nature help Robin build her nest. It's up to the reader to determine how & why they are helpers!
July 11, 2019
I love "The House that Jack Built" type stories to read to my Kindergarten as they are so enamored. I was not disappointed! This is a lovely book from a well-known and well-loved Author/Illustrator in our collection. I admit some of the language chosen startled me on the first read. It took me a minute to get the rhythm in order to read it aloud, but I suspect students did not notice.
The illustrations have so much texture and appeal and had enough of the vibrant color that my students will easily recognize the illustrator here. (That makes them very happy which makes me very happy!)
The illustrations have so much texture and appeal and had enough of the vibrant color that my students will easily recognize the illustrator here. (That makes them very happy which makes me very happy!)
April 7, 2018
A robin's animal friends help build her nest in this cumulative collage picture book from Caldecott Honor recipient Denise Fleming.
Robin is building a nest, and her friends are ready to help! The squirrel trims the twigs. The dog brings the string. The horse shares his straw. And then a surprise gatefold spread reveals how Robin knits them all together to make a safe and cozy home for her babies.
Robin is building a nest, and her friends are ready to help! The squirrel trims the twigs. The dog brings the string. The horse shares his straw. And then a surprise gatefold spread reveals how Robin knits them all together to make a safe and cozy home for her babies.
September 14, 2018
This book is a great book to read with children and talk about teamwork and how in a team everyone has a job, especially if you are putting your child in school , or in a sport it shows how the robin and all the animals worked as a team to get the job of building a beautiful nest built I work in a daycare and had interesting conversations with 4 yr colds about why the nest had so many animals building it and why team work is important I loved this book and my stuydent's did to 5 Stars!
December 9, 2018
This picture book has the same sequence of storytelling as the classic cumulative song, "This is the House that Jack Built" but it features animals that contributed to hatching fledglings in a robin's nest. Fleming's painted paper collages might seem ideal for a book about compiling a nest but their patchiness and overlapping hues complicate natural lighting. Nonetheless, kindergarten teachers may may find this appropriate for teaching STEM.
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