We Build Our Homes

Awesome book! I love looking a the animal homes in my neighborhood. The nests are so well built.Robins build the nicest ones I think! But there are even better nest builders in the world-weaver bird comes to mind and is covered in this book! I've seen burrowing animals, but have no way to look inside their nests, so I have to see them on Nat Geo! Barring that, littles will enjoy this book of animal homes. So many animals are covered in it! I love the illustrations and am sure that when we get the book they will look even more amazing in color!

Going from insects to birds to mammals, Knowles picks out some of the most unique nests/homes built out in the wild. Supported by illustrations, we get to see what everything looks like, why it's building it, and any other interesting benefits that come along with the construction (e.g. other animals might utilize a tunnel).

This looks to be a great introduction for kids, helping to stoke that fire of wildlife curiosities and a great conduit to help them realize just how amazing the world can be.

I'll be picking this one up for the daughter. Really great presentation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the advance read.

Our grade school aged children always have a lot of questions about animal habitats so this was a great book to read with them. Not only were the illustrations beautiful but it was super informative and a great way to connect us to the animals around us.

"Our homes are places we share with our families. Our homes are places where we can rest and feel safe. Animals build for the same reason. "

Each page shared about a different animal and why, where and how they build their home. There were a wild array of animals this covered and we learned so much from reading it. A big thank you To Net Galley and Quarto Publishing for sending us a copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

This is a very impressive, informative, colorful picture book about the different types of homes that birds, insects, arachnids, and mammals build for themselves. They do so to raise their young, to attract mates, and to take shelter.

Some very delightful examples, including bower birds, trapdoor spiders, and meerkats.

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The text is very brief, this is a picture book, after all, but the important information about the why and what is included. The pictures are wonderful too.

All and all delightful, early biological book on animals and how they live.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I loved this children’s picture book. This nonfiction book looks at how twenty-five animals and humans, build their homes. Animals include weaver birds, termites, trapdoor spiders, honeybees, polar bears, and harvest mice. Each animal’s page includes wonderful illustrations by Madden that brings the animal’s habitat to life. This book is definitely able to be read and reread over time.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.

We Build Our Homes by Laura Knowles and illustrated by Chris Madden highlights what all animals on earth share: homes. But homes don’t serve the same purpose for all; some are meant to attract mates, others for comfort or storage, and even more to protect.

Told from the perspective of the builders, Knowles takes the reader through the construction of nests, dams, mounds, tunnels, webs, and even houses. The book includes three sections featuring birds, “minibeasts” (insects and reptiles), and mammals. The information is fascinating. Before reading this book, I am embarrassed to say I didn’t realized the range of nests birds built! The diverse homes of bees, spiders, and ants give insight into their behavior. And it’s so fun seeing polar bears, meerkats, and chimpanzees. Given the limited space, Knowles selected an interesting range of species to include in the book.

The illustrations are fabulous and pair nicely with the text which is detailed enough to provide stimulating details but not so much as to overwhelm young readers. A fact file at the end of the book includes all the species described with their range and habitat.

At times, the language is a bit flowery for my taste, but it’s very possible that will be a selling point for younger readers. I wish that the sections had a clearer delineation, perhaps with a page separating them, but that might be an artifact of my electronic copy.

This is a great book for young readers who are interested in animals and/or ecology, and I would be surprised if their caretakers didn’t learn something new as well.

I'm always on the lookout for great books to gift children of friends and family. This one did not disappoint! We Build Our Homes includes a good range of animals from around the world, shows the types of homes they build through beautiful illustrations and description and at the end, each featured animals native area is documented. Younger kids will enjoy the colorful illustrations while older kids so enjoy learning about the unique structures different animals build. Great gift to bring more nature to our often too tech-obsessed kids!

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this interesting book in exchange for my honest review.

What a charming book! The children in your life will love this - especially when they become interested in animals. It's filled with charming illustrations and clear language.

This would make an amazing gift for a primary teacher or for a child learning to read. It would also be a great gift for a child who is moving from one home to another.

This was a fun and educational story about animals that build. Be it homes or a means to attract a mate, they do a workmanlike and wonderful job, and they live all over the world.

In a series of colorful and beautifully-done illustrations by Chris Madden, and with some rather poetic prose from Laura Knowles, the story is told from the animal's perspective and describes (from the blurb): "mammals, birds, and insects [which] can be found building incredible things. From biggest beaver dams to tinniest caddisfly cases...." There are the exotic, such as ovenbirds, which build adobe huts on tree branches, and the amazing Darwin's bark spiders, which build gigantic webs, to the more mundane, such as moles, to the highly endangered by human stupidity and lethargy: polar bears, who can build a toasty home out of icy snow in bitterly cold weather, and then starve themselves for five months while their cubs almost literally suck them dry!

The book doesn't focus solely on fluffy mammals like too many children's books do, but covers some insects, reptiles, as well as birds, and features some more grown-up details in the back for interested adults - and every adult should be interested in what we're doing to our home even as these animals struggle to continue to build their own. Every kid needs to be raised with a deep appreciation for nature and for the damage humans can do when we think only of ourselves and not of our home - Planet Earth, Anything which can bring kids a keener awareness of nature, and how it works, and how delicate some of it is, is to be welcomed, and I commend this for being an important part of that education.

What a delightful picture book. We Build Our Homes is very informative and gives insight on how animals and humans build their homes. Animals include honeybees, trapdoor spiders, meerkats, termites, polar bears, chimpanzees and so on. With beautiful and colorful illustrations accompanying each story, these stories are long enough to pique a child's interest in animals and their habitats. Highly recommend to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Beautifully illustrated and packed with great information about animals and the homes that they build, a great addition to any library, and a great gift for the child who loves animals.

We Build Our Homes is such a cute, readable nonfiction book, telling the stories of animals who are known for building homes -- especially unique ones. Each species of animal has a beautifully illustrated two-page spread to tell its story from a first person perspective (as the "we" in the title implies), which I think makes the text more story-like for young children.

We learn about birds, insects, mammals, and more animals that build their houses out of many different materials and in many different settings. One of the most interesting to me were the edible-nest swiftlets, birds who build their nests in caves -- and their nests are made out of their own saliva!

The text here manages to be both informative and readable, while remaining at a level that preschoolers can still appreciate. For older children, the book is not too wordy to read in one sitting.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

This book is about a large number of animals and how and why they build their homes. There are birds, insects, arachnids, mammals, reptiles and more. Loved the illustrations and the helpful information that went along with each animal. I especially loved all of the birds included.

We build Our Homes by Laura Knowles

is a wonderful, beautifully illustrated children's books about the various houses created by animals.

Our house is a nest, a secure place where to return, and a place in grade to speak of our habits, our customs, our traditions. It's the passage of our existence, what we love, what we want to keep close to us; it defines us much better than anything else.

For animals is the same. In fact, we use expression like "Our nest, an empty nest" because we feel that connection; like the rest of animals we are part of the place where we live in.

Each of the animals, humans included taken in consideration have a profound and marked soul and specific habits and modality for building their own houses.

Of course it is a story of environment where they live in, what they find around, and their nature.

Told using the first person, the narrator in each occasion will introduce the animal protagonist of the pages; we will open the doors of houses of a lot of birds, and then bees, termites the one of a spider, weaver ants, gopher tortoise, meerkats, moles, polar bears! the so-called prairie dogs; we will visit the house of a harvest mice, the one of beavers, and so on.

They will explain to you and your children why they build their homes in a certain way; why they search for certain materials; what they expect from that house and why a house built in a certain way to them it is so important for growing up at the best their children.
They could search for warm; they could find materials outside, or like bees do, they build their house just by themselves, and it is a geometrical work, you will see.

Great book this one, funny, plenty of great informations I am sure that children will learn a lot. Adults as well.
There were some spieces of animals I still didn't know.

Highly recommended.

I thank NetGalley and Quarto for this ebook.

"Our name means “earth pig.” Can you guess why? We gouge out a burrow with our powerful claws, digging into the soil like spades. Each of us has a burrow of our own. We sleep through the day, down where it's cool and dark. When the baking sun sets, out we come to snack on termites. Though our burrows may not look like much to you, they can be big and have many entrance tunnels. Many other animals use them too. You might find a pangolin or a porcupine in one... perhapseven a leopard! You see, ours are very good burrows to borrow!"

What a fun and Educational read! Kids will love the way the information is written in a playful tone along with gorgeous pictures to study along the way.

Thank you netgalley for allowing me to read this great book!

I really liked reading this book that will for sure captivate children who love nature and animals. They will learn how different animals build their home. The illustrations are really great and the text is well integrated on each page.

This title introduces readers to the various houses in animal kingdom. It covers birds and animals from many ecosystems. Each animal/bird is introduced in their habitat and about their homes. A total of 25 species and humans are covered. Unusual homes like the paper wasp and polar bears are covered in this volume. This book will enrich every classroom and belongs to the shelf of every home where outdoor activities are encouraged.
Hand drawn color images and colors add to the curiosity of the readers. Engaging text and images.

Wonderful book that I can't wait to share with my grandkids. I kept thinking as I read it, that the author should have included some geography as part of the stories of all the wonderful and interesting creatures she tells about. Surprise! The last several pages are just that - detailed description of each creature and it's habitat. Fantastic!

I loved this book. It’s short and basic, (it is a picture book after all) and beautifully illustrated. A perfect way to provide both basic information to young children and ignite their interest in the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it.
Highly recommend.

A lyrical look at animals, insects, and others (including humans) who build unique and often unusual homes for themselves and their families. Author Laura Knowles offers clear and fact-filled glimpses of 26 interesting builders from around the world, all clever architects who build to meet their exact needs, often using nearby resources. Chris Madden's lovely illustrations also help readers understand each creature's story while highlighting each home's coziness.

A wonderful look at the many habitats and animals that inhabit our great earth. Particularly useful for teacher's teaching animal units.

I really like this book! It's a fascinating look at animal architects and the things they build. There are so many examples, including many animals you might not have heard of before, and each one is accompanied by beautiful pictures.

For a picture book, this is quite long and there's a fair amount of text. But kids who are interested in birds, insects, or other animals will find this a fascinating read. As an adult, I learned all sorts of things that I didn't know before. I especially liked learning about tailorbirds and harvest mice. The illustrations are really beautiful, and show off each marvelous animal creation in a clear and aesthetically pleasing way.

There seems to be some weirdness going on with the back cover of the ARC; the text looks like it's probably from the author and illustrator's previous collaboration, a book called We Travel So Far. I'm not sure how it ended up on the back cover of this book, but just be aware of that. We Build Our Homes is about animals' creativity and architectural skills; the other book appears to be about animal migration.

We Build Our Homes is a nonfiction book for young readers written by Laura Knowles and illustrated by Carla Madden. It’s not only humans who can build incredible structures: around the world, mammals, birds, and insects can be found building incredible things. From biggest beaver dams to tiniest caddisfly cases, this beautifully illustrated picture book explores each one and uncovers the reasons why they build. Each spread looks at a different animal, told as though from their viewpoint. The amazing animal architects featured include bower birds and weaver birds, gophers and beavers, termites, honey bees, and many more.

We Build Our Homes has a lovely balance between beautifully realistic artwork and text that is informative, accessable, and rhythmic. I liked learning a few new things about how particular animals build and care for their homes, and why they make some of the choices they do. I also like that creatures in the book are grouped by animal type; birds, insects, then larger animals. The birds and other builders include both well known home builders- such as bower birds and bees, but some creatures that are not always the first to come to mind. I also like that they included the world map and people in the book. I really think that the combination of lyrical text in understandable and accessible phrasing and delightful illustrations will capture the attention of many young readers, and the adults that might be sharing it with them. For those will a shorter attention span, or to break it up so the experience lasts longer, reading the book in sections (birds, insects, then reptiles and mammals) might make sense.

This incredible non-fiction book will mesmerize both young and old readers. It highlights birds, insects, and mammals from around the world and profiles their extraordinary architectural skills. It truly is fascinating as all these scenarios are true.

Knowles chooses interesting unique subjects and their lifestyle is told from the animal's perspective. She includes interesting and educational details of how, where and why these animals build their homes. The illustrations are colourful and beautifully executed bringing their habitats to life.

The author includes twenty-six builders ( including humans ). She clearly explains how these innovative creatures create homes that meet their specific needs from resources that are available to them in the wild.


Among the amazing builders you’ll meet:

Ovenbirds, who carry clumps of mud up into the trees to make their nest
Darwin’s bark spiders, who build webs stretching out as far as three buses, end-to-end
Moles, who use their spade-like paws to dig extensive networks of tunnels with nesting spaces and storerooms where they keep earthworms to snack on later
Polar bear mothers, who make their dens under the snow to stay in for five long months, nursing their cubs and eating nothing themselves

The book also includes a useful map of the world, and a Builders’ Fact File. It is sure to encourage kids to delve deeper and find out more about the captivating animals that live in our world. It is perfect to include in a classroom or an elementary school library. Kids will love it. I highly recommend "We Build Our Homes".

This is a good informative book to read to kids. Chris Madden's illustrations are very detail oriented and googling any bird or tortoise will give the exact copy.

My only peeve is that more explanation could be given for e.g. how long does it take for the animals / birds / insects to create the nest. That would enhance the amount of labor and hard work involved. And that would be a good lesson. Also, reason why birds need to rebuild their nests each year, etc. And which country / place / region animals / insects / birds are from, etc.

Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. All the best to the writer and illustrator in future endeavors.

An interesting read to get kids both young and old interested in the building skills of animals on the planet including humans. Clearly explaining how creative and clever each one is. A great book to start discussion, teach avout the world, get an interest started in science and nature. It’s got great illustrations to show exactly what she’s describing and there’s a lot on offer to keep readers interested. A great read.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy for an honest review

This is a delightful book which vividly portrays the lives of various creatures that make nests, dens or other homes. Birds start us off with weaverbirds, bowerbirds, swifts, then on to less attractive creatures like ants, termites, spiders, before meeting mammals and reptiles. I enjoyed every double-page spread drawing, which carries a few lines of writing and excellent detail. The writer has really thought about how to shrink information and still convey it well, while added details include the place where the animal lives, or its food, or its predators.

At the back we find a map of the world and each animal featured gets a little fact file so readers can place it on the map and get used to geography. This is a really colourful and attractive book which is excellent for young readers and anyone keen on fascinating nature.

I downloaded a copy from Net Galley. This is an unbiased review.

We Build Our Homes is a great introduction to animal habitats featuring 26 different animals and the places they live. Each page tells us about an animal such as birds, ants, bears, moles, spiders, mice, bees and their homes. Beautifully illustrated and interesting information. Great for preschool or elementary age children, I even learned new information.

This is a beautiful picture book. The illustrations are rich, colorful, and they gave a life-like quality to my mental pictures that remind me of the effect of a good documentary.

The animals chosen for this book are animals from all over the world and I love that both small and large animals are represented.
I also love that, at the end of the book, a list with facts about each animal is included. This way anyone reading has the opportunity to do more research because they have access to the specific Latin name etc. but it is also a great tool to figure out which animals live near you.

In short: absolutely loved it and recommend it.

Birds that build. Amazing nests sometimes have to be made every year, sometimes they last for years. Fascinating facts told in an interesting way that will reach young readers.

This is an amazing book about Animal Architects, habitats and various reasons that animal homes are the way they are. This is a non-fiction book full of wonderful illustrations and information that should get children talking about different things. I read (or tried to read) this book to my five year old grandson and he was too young. There is a lot of text and he didn't want to listen to it all. He was fascinated with the illustrations and asked me questions that I answered based on the text. There are 26 different animals, including many you might not have heard of before. There are a lot of birds with amazing nests, then it moves on to insects and mammals.

We Build Our Homes is about animals' creativity and architectural skills that could be used in a classroom to discuss buildings, as well as habitats and animal environments. I could see this book in a late primary to early junior classroom. As an adult, I even learned some new things. A great addition to a public or school library. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

"We Build Our Homes" is a wonderful picture book about animals' habitats. Twenty six animals along with their homes are being introduced here. I enjoy the beautiful illustrations, and is fun to read aloud because text is written in poetic prose. This is an educational non-fiction for children of all ages. Younger children could simply learn the names of the animals and homes associated with them whereas older children, if they're interested, could read the text for more information.

What a wonderful children book about nature. And I appreciate how the author reminds us the importance of loving and sharing this world we called "home" with many other animals which come in different forms and sizes.

Interesting book on how animals, birds, reptiles and insects build their homes. Illustrations are beautiful. It has information on animals from all over the world. It also has a builder's fact file at the end

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC

This was a really cute book that allowed us to explore animals and their habitats in our homeschool. We enjoyed reading it together.