Nesting by Henry Cole

Blurb: "In the spring, a robin sings to find another robin. Together, they build a nest with twigs and grass. The mother robin lays the beautiful blue eggs. She will keep the eggs warm in the nest until they hatch into baby robins. The father robin protects the babies until they can fly on their own. The perils the babies encounter are many, including snakes and storms. The nest is always their safe place."

Uncomplicated language describes the nesting process, while illustrations both mirror and extend the text. Horn Book

Robins are red but every illustration in this book is black and white with a touch of aqua blue. The pencil illustrations in this book are so very very appealing. 

Children will learn about robins (and never once are the birds anthropomorphised). But they can also be reminded of the lengths parents go to in order to take care of their young (whether feathered or not). Seven impossible Things before Breakfast (click this to see inside Nesting).

Here is the second book by Henry Cole that follows from Nesting and yes it features beavers!

I found this wonderful video of Henry Cole "reading" his wordless book Unspoken. Sadly it is out of print but watching the video you will see this is a very special book which has been crafted with so much care.

In this interview with Roger Sutton at The Horn Book Magazine, Henry Cole talks about his book One Little Bag: An amazing Journey. My first discovery of Henry Cole was through the art in the book A Nest for Celeste.