I like the illustrations, especially the little details. My favorite detail is the three ladybugs hidden on each page. It was fun to try to find them. That added to the book's engagement. I also liked the variety of animals that helped build the nest and the surprise foldout page summarizing all the steps at the end. Unfortunately, the book was somewhat dull. I can't imagine reading it over and over.

Recommended age: 6-8 years

Writing style: Based on the British nursery rhyme "The House That Jack Built," This Is the Nest That Robin Built is a cumulative tale. On each page, another animal adds a material to build the robin nest. The text repeats all of the previous pages until, finally, the nest is built. Fleming chooses unique, descriptive verbs, like plasters, anchors, and cushions. Further, each material has characteristics that increase vocabulary, like "long and strong" or "rough and tough."

Lexile score: 700L
Sentence length: 5/5
Word frequency: 2/5

Illustration style: Rich-colored collages fill the page. The textured collage technique reminds me a lot of Eric Carle, so fans of his artwork will also appreciate this one.

Reality-based: Partially. The book is about building a robin's nest, which is based on reality. But this is not how a Robin nest is built. Each animal relates to the object included, like pigs and mud, but they don't work as a team. Maybe invisibly? It's a little too far off for me. ( )

What goes into building a nest? Explore the robin's nesting process and the way it is part of a whole ecosystem. This fresh take on the classic cumulative tale is a fun challenge for reading aloud. And Denise Fleming's printmaking collage art brings such interesting texture to the story.

-songs & rhymes:
-book talks:
-literacy asides:

A hard-working robin builds a nest out of the items left behind by other animals, such as twigs, straw, etc.

This book is a fun way of teaching a scientific concept about the natural world. With cumulative repetition and rhyme, the text follows as the robin builds the nest and her hatchlings grow. It seems to me though that the pull-out page repeating all the items in the nest was just a little too much repetition at that point.

The illustrations were "created using various print-making techniques combined with collage." The effect is interesting and draws the eye to the page immediately. ( )

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... ( )