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Summary
Summary
Miss Dana's class has front-row seats for one of nature's most awe-inspiring spring performances. In the branches of the fir tree outside their classroom, two blue jays build their nest. Shortly after the nest is completed, the female blue jay lays her eggs. The male brings her all kinds of food-an acorn, a worm, even a piece of a cookie! She guards her eggs closely, but the children are able to get a quick glimpse of them. Days later the children see the newly hatched baby blue jays huddled together in the nest. Three weeks later, the children say good-bye as the blue jays leave the nest for the first time. Without a single lesson, the birds spread their wings and take flight. This charming story with spectacular three-dimensional illustrations will bring out the nature observer in every child.
Author Notes
Anne Rockwell was born in Memphis, Tennessee on February 8, 1934. She moved to New York City at the age of 18 and found a job doing typing work for a textbook publisher. She studied at Pratt Graphic Arts Center and at the Sculpture Center.
She became an author and illustrator. Her first children's book, Paul and Arthur Search for the Egg, was published in 1964. Her other books included Boats, Fire Engines, Things That Go, Our Earth, and Only Passing Through: The Story of Sojourner Truth. She collaborated on several books with her husband Harlow Rockwell including Sally's Caterpillar and The Toolbox. After her husband's death, she collaborated with her daughter Lizzy Rockwell. Their books included Career Day and Zoo Day. She died of natural causes on April 10, 2018 at the age of 85.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Facts are skillfully inserted into this story, which follows a pair of blue jays as they mate, build a nest, and raise their young. Have the class keep count of blue jays seen near school and home. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Using a school setting, Rockwell and Halsey (who collaborated on One Bean) share an abundance of bird information in an organic, personal way. A girl with brown hair and glasses narrates as her class watches a pair of blue jays build a nest, lay eggs and raise their young. Halsey's layered collage compositions, photographed for a three-dimensional effect, heighten the drama playing out in nature. For instance, as the teacher explains to the narrator why the mother jay must keep her eggs warm ("Because baby blue jays are growing inside"), the artist creates three time-lapse drawings of the forming fetus within a trio of egg-shaped white backgrounds. An aerial view of the nest itself, photographed against a light blue background, emulates the sense of peering down into the nest. Other bird facts slip in through children's observations, dialogue and activities. Halsey's lively, multilayered illustrations appear to catch the gorgeous, cobalt birds in mid-flight, and Rockwell's forthright approach will grab readers' attention. Describing the baby birds, the author observes, "They weren't cute and cuddly like some baby animals are.... Not one of the baby birds had a single feather." Children may well catch the narrator's enthusiasm: "Whenever I see a blue jay or hear it squawking, `Jay! Jay! Jay!' I always wonder if it's one of ours." An author's note shares additional information, and endpapers display a lovely line-up of nine other common feathered friends (and their eggs). Ages 4-8. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
When two blue jays build a nest in a tree outside their classroom window, the students in Miss Dana's class watch as the birds raise their young. Although the students only document a few observations (e.g., they make a list of foods that the male brings the nesting female), the vivid acrylic and cut-paper illustrations show the progression from egg to fledgling and may very well inspire bird watching. From HORN BOOK Fall 2003, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Having watched caterpillars Becoming Butterflies (2002) in a previous episode, the children in Miss Dana's class have ringside seats when two blue jays build a nest outside the classroom's window, and raise four chicks. To Rockwell's brief commentary on the adult jays' nurturing behavior toward each other and toward their offspring, Halsey depicts high spots in tidy bas-relief paper collages. A selection of the eggs and adults of other commonly seen yard or woodland birds on the endpapers makes a pleasant addition. Despite inconsistent pronoun use ("We made a list of what the male brought back in its beak. When he wasn't searching for food...."), this affords a clear, concise explanation of a natural event that even most urban children will be able to observe on their own. (afterword) (Picture book/nonfiction. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
PreS^-Gr. 2. A young girl watches as two blue jays settle on the tree outside her classroom window. Other students join her, and over the following weeks, the children watch as the birds guard their nest, lay their eggs, and feed and raise their young. Finally, when the jays disappear, the class brings the empty nest inside to remind them of their bird friends. Rockwell's text is simple, graceful, and filled with information imparted in the voice of the teacher, who explains each stage of the young birds' development. Clear, uncluttered, and realistic, Halsey's cut-paper-and-paint collages are a fine match for the words. Inviting spreads show the birds from interesting perspectives and in surprising detail--the parents' brilliant plumage; the bald, open-mouthed babies. Well paced for read-alouds, this warm story about a bird's life cycle may encourage youngsters to take a closer look at the wildlife in their own backyards. --Gillian Engberg
