Nest

by Jorey Hurley

In her picture book debut, artist Jorey Hurley opens our eyes to the wonders of the natural world and tells a universal story of family.

From birth, to first flight, to new friend, the first year of a bird’s life is full of activity and wonder. Artist Jorey Hurley pairs vivid, crisp artwork with simple, minimal text—often just one word per spread—to create a breathtaking, peaceful chronicle of nature and life’s milestones.

Genres: Picture Books, Birds, Animals, Nature, Childrens, Storytime, Nonfiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2014

About the author

Jorey Hurley studied art at Princeton, received her law degree from Stanford, and studied design at FIT. She lives in San Francisco with her husband and two children.

Reviews

[Charlotte Rice · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much action, so few words.

[The Library Lady · Rating 4 out of 5]

One word per 2 page spread, and that's enough to trace a pair of robins through a year's nesting cycle. This is a tour de force, and the sort of picture book that makes the hipster crap look like the nonsense that it is. Wonderful for story time where it should inspire conversation and discussions, or just for enjoying with someone on your lap.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nest is a simple and beautiful picture book about the life of a family of robins. The digitally designed artwork is gorgeously rendered. With a one word description per page it reads like a poem. This is a lovely book about nature for children of any age.

[Jenhfor · Rating 2 out of 5]

A simple, 34-page, picture book about a bird’s life. Each two-page layout features one large illustration and one word. While the illustrations are beautiful, the text is often misleading. For example, on one page the word is “sleep,” while the picture shows a bird sitting in a tree watching an owl fly by, or another page reads “jump” while a cat is shown sitting under a tree looking up at birds. Due to discrepancies like this, the book would best be suited as a read aloud to preschool or kinder students, with an adult scaffolding the inferences that need to be made with the reader. The illustrations are engaging enough that a first or second grader might engage to make up their own story to the pictures, but there are plenty of other picture books out that are more engaging for that purpose. The pictures are so beautiful, it would have been better if the words were simply left off the pages.
Ages 3-7

[Lorellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly gorgeous board book. Worth a look at any age.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn’t stop taking photos of the pages. Great picture book!

[Cathy Mealey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although the view from my window is still a frozen, icy snowscape, yesterday I saw two brown robins flitting in and out of the bare branches on my forsythia bush. Too early, friends! I thought, but I remain hopeful that their appearance means spring will soon arrive.

Nest is the perfect book to lure young readers into noticing and appreciating this first sign of spring, the arrival of the American Robin. Matte, bold illustrations draw us immediately into the life cycle of a robin family from nest to egg to bird. Featuring just one word of text per page allows plenty of time to attend to the action at hand, whether hatch, fly, feast or snuggle.

Hurley reserves the perfect shade of blue for the robins’ egg, which appears only twice in the book but rolls gloriously across the endpapers. The bird family poses against backgrounds of lush green leaves, pale beige daylight, and pink rosy dawn. Rain and snow, sun and moon, and even the wind play significant roles in the ever-changing natural landscape.

The storyline of Nest is scant but familiar; family, home, seasons, and nature. But don’t be lulled by the simplicity of the text – the illustrations in Nest have a powerful pull that will lead you to flip through the book again and again. Poring over the pages reveals subtle textures, dimensions and details that enrich every image.

For readers eager to know more, the author’s note at the end provides interesting supplemental information about the American Robin. The book trailer is available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmW4Bt...

[Erin Reilly-Sanders · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was rather gorgeous. Ordinarily I'm not a huge fan of illustrations done digitally but the shapes used were just so... tender, if that makes sense. The matte paper also makes a huge difference here, fitting the soft feel produced by the simplicity of the elements in the pictures, the lack of outline, and gently muted colors. Despite the simplicity, the shapes are complex enough to produce a sense of realism rather than cartoon. Quite nice.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of a family of Robins as told one word at a time. Each two page spread uses a single word to represent a moment in time in the Robin family, whether it be related to the season or a new period of growth.

Digital illustrations give the book a simple, uncluttered design. The author's note pulls the whole book together and reveals the author's inspiration for writing the book.

I highly recommend this nature read for sharing one-on-one with PreK-2.

[Carol - Reading Writing and Riesling · Rating 4 out of 5]

My View:
Simplistic in design but very effective use of a single word and illustration per page to convey a story – there are endless possibilities for the conversations/stories this book will allow you to conjure up when reading to your baby/toddler.

Colours, seasons, families, movement, emotions…a simple word says so much.

PS
Love a cardboard/hard board children’s book! So practical.

[Galena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Colorful and whimsical, Jorey paints the picture of a Robin's life with simple, clean text. It's a perfect for young readers who can be absorbed in the beautiful images and create stories of their own in the drawings. I am going to purchase multiple copies for my friends and nieces as I am sure this will grow to be a family favorite.

[Amanda B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gorgeous art. One word per page makes it great for younger readers, but older readers will love using it as a jumping-off point to tell more of a story based on the pictures and their own knowledge of birds.

[KC · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very simple tale of a robin family and their egg. Single word description for each colorful illustration makes this story of family, nature, growth, and seasons a wonderful and yet approachable discussion about babies.

[Darshana Khiani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this book on so many levels.
Perfect for preschoolers.
Great author note at the end.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's everything a board book should be! A sweet little book that is simple, not over-stimulating, and is beautifully illustrated. 4.5 stars!

[Becky B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple introduction to the life cycle of a robin.

Each page spread in this has only one word, but combined with the illustrations it is enough to understand the basic developmental steps as a baby robin grows to adulthood. There's an extensive author's note in the back with much more information on robins and adult readers can decide which details are of interest to the little readers. Because the book is so simple it should be a winner with kids who aren't reading words on their own yet, they can still read this book to themselves easily. Those reading to kids with short attention spans should also like it since it's a very quick read. Hand this one to little bird or nature lovers.

[Lydia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple progression of pictures with one word descriptions follows the life cycle of the American Robin.

I liked the simple word to describe the page, but was a little disappointed that the drawings were also very simple. Tells a story but is a bit forgettable, more detailed drawings of the birds could have really helped the story shine.

No content issues.

[L.A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

My daughter likes this series, and so do I. Just one word per page is pretty simple, but I think it’ll be helpful as she gets older and is learning to read on her own. There’s also a good “story” on the very last page that explains how all the words connect together and gives scientific facts about the topic covered in the book.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the simplicity of this picture book. With one word per double page spread, the book follows the lives of a family of robins. With limited text, the illustrations are the real star of this book and provide endless opportunity for conversation starters and storytelling inspiration.

[Kylie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a simple but sweet story following a baby bird through its first year of life. The text is just one word per page spread with the picture matching the word. It is a lovely story following the parents and baby eating, sleeping, and cuddling through the seasons.

[Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

The power of one word to say it all on each page. Works with the illustration to keep the reader's interest. The author's first book tells the story of Robins raising their young over the course of the seasons.

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love that it comes full circle!

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very simple, yet easily engaging for a toddler or pre-K / K aged child.

[Kirsten Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not to be missed: the Author’s Note with factual info at back of the book

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this is a simple book, the kids at storytime really liked it and were pointing out all of the small detail in the illustrations.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be a great simple mentor to teach about birds.

[Esther May · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has very few words, it is a great one to read to little babies or kids who don't have long attention spans. The illustrations are beautiful.

[Rebecca Gomez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely book that says a lot with very few words.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple text and illustrations. Great for learning about nests!

[Diana C. Kobylak · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple book about single visual word recognition.