The Best Nest (Arbordale Collection). Dieser Artikel ist nicht verfügbar.The Best Nest (Arbordale Collection)

Long ago, when the world was young, the magpies’ nests were the envy of all other birds. To help the other birds, Maggie Magpie patiently explained how to build a nest. But some birds were impatient and flew off without listening to all the directions, which is why, to this day, birds’ nests come in all different shapes and sizes. This clever retelling of an old English folktale teaches the importance of careful listening.

Doris L. Mueller has been a teacher and professor at every level from kindergarten through graduate school. She currently teaches college-level writing courses and a class in Children’s Literature. Her previous books include a picture book, Small One’s Adventure, a middle-grade novel, Marryin’ Sam, and a biography, M. Jeff Thompson: Missouri’s Swamp Fox. Doris recalls that whenever she failed to listed to instructions, her mother would tell her an Old English Tale of how, when the magpie tried to teach the birds how to build a beautiful, strong nest like hers, all but one failed to attend to her instructions and went off to build inadequate nests. She retold the story, substituting birds native to the US, and added factual information telling how various birds build their nests. Doris and her husband live on a small lake outside of St. Louis and have many bird visitors at their bird feeders—woodpeckers, humming birds, nuthatches, and goldfinches, among others. Their own children are grown and have flown the nest.