2008 2 x 2 Booklist (5)

The Perfect Nest by Catherine Friend

Jack has come up with the perfect plan on how to get an egg to make himself an omelet. He has built the perfect nest to attract the chicken to lay an egg on it. To his great surprise the chicken, the duck, and the goose love the nest so much that the three have laid an egg and refuse to leave. Jack tries everything to get them to leave the nest so he can get to the eggs. He cries "Fire," "Flood," and "Wolf" and they still won't leave, until he mentions that the farm next door has an even better perfect nest. As Jack's stomach rumbles, he arranges the eggs by size: small, medium, and large. All of a sudden, the three eggs crack open and out pops a baby chick, a baby duck, and a baby goose. Now Jack realizes he can't make omelets out of them and he gets so scared when the babies call him mom that he runs away. They chase after him and drag him back to the nest. The tired babies want to cuddle with their mommy Jack and he realizes he is the only one around to take care of them. So he cuddles with them and realizes that this really is the perfect nest. This picture book is funny and has great illustrations. The illustrations capture Jack's and the other farm animals facial expressions as he plots on obtaining the perfect egg for his perfect omelet. I would highly recommend this book to lower grades and reluctant readers. I love the way the author used different expressions (Spanish, French, and English) for the three birds. This book can be used in as an introduction to sizes (small, medium, and large).