We Build Our Homes

PreS-Gr 2—In the charming We Build Our Homes, children are taken on a door-to-door safari through the ingenious homes of all manner of animals. The information is presented in a lyrical, almost Tolkien-esque manner. The organization of the animals included in the book has an incremental feel to it, which pulls the reader's attention from one page to the next. At the beginning of the book, it's almost as if with each preceding page, the reader moves from the foreground into the background of nest-laden trees to examine all the little details included in the textured, collage-like art. The images are striking, such as a portrait of the baby tailorbirds. Their demanding hunger is palpable, as evident by their tiny, craning necks and gaping beaks. Following birds, the reader is then introduced to insects, reptiles, and then to mammals, with the last page being a great payoff to the book's overall narrative journey. We Build Our Homes could easily act as a gateway to other books about the featured animals. On the other hand, the descriptions could benefit from a consistent poetic flow, but such a continuous rhythm could have impacted the information's easily digestible nature.