The Best Nest Contest

Luke Western was inspired to produce this charming book, which he wrote and illustrated, upon introducing garden birds to his baby daughter. The book itself is aimed at slightly older children – aged four to eight. Fortuitously enough, I have a six-year-old son who was on hand to help me write this review.

First impressions were good. My son could confidently identify all the birds from the illustrations, which include examples in the author’s signature ‘geometric birds’ style. I found the accuracy of the details a refreshing change from many of the illustrations in books for younger children, which often have generic ‘birdy’ images, or perhaps even worse, biologically misleading ones. For example, I remember once flicking through a book designed to engage children with nature published by none other than the National Trust, and noticing a depiction of Blue Tits raising chicks in an open nest on a tree branch. I returned it to its shelf.

In terms of the text, my son enjoyed the “my nest is the best” refrain, and appreciated the rhymes. It was pitched just right for children of his reading age and understanding. Having said I valued the book’s accuracy, I did have a few minor gripes. On one page for instance, a male Chaffinch is shown sitting on a nest, when nest building and incubation in this species is carried out exclusively by females. On another, there’s a mention of Blackbirds’ nests being mud-lined, when this is the case for the closely-related Song Thrush.

Speaking of Song Thrushes, this was my son’s only criticism. Admittedly, he’s not the most typical six-year-old, having been coming out nest recording since he was a babe in arms. However, he said he was disappointed that Song Thrush and Dunnock didn’t feature in the book, as those are his favourite species to look in the nests of. He also asked why the Barn Owl and House Sparrow were simply called ‘owl’ and ‘sparrow’ respectively! That said, he did love the story and the artwork, especially the picture of the Chaffinch nest with eggs, and the jewel-like Jay’s eggs.

All in all, The Best Nest Contest is a brilliant idea, and we wish the author luck sending copies to schools around the UK to spark children’s interest and educate them about nesting birds.

Book reviewed by Viola Ross-Smith