Book of the Week: The Best Nest

The Best Nest by P.D. Eastman, part of the I can read it all by myself series with many other Dr. Seuss books. This book can be found at your local library, or any major bookstore. Many of you may have read this story when you were little.





Quick Synopsis


Mrs. Bird decided that she does not like her old nest and wants to upgrade. They look everywhere for a better nest. They finally find what they think is perfect and then they have to fill it with new stuff. The nest is not perfect and they end up back at the old nest, but with a new attitude.





Using this book with kids


This is a great book to jump start a discussion about being happy with what you have. Lead the discussion with questions like: Why didn't Mrs. Bird like her first house? What was Mrs. Birds attitude about her house? Why did she like the house at the church?


When they had to make a new nest, why didn't they just bring the old nest? What happened to that new nest? Where did they end up? How is this like people buying stuff?





Summary


Some of the points that you may want to bring out:


1. Sometimes new things mean you have to buy more and more things, which makes them extra expensive


2. Fixing up something that you already have may be better than finding something new


3. your attitude changes the way you look at things


4. Check everything very thoroughly before you buy it. You may have an unexpected surprise

Check out other summer reading ideas at the Happy Housewife.