A Nest for Celeste: A Story about Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home

Very well worth the read I don’t have any children it’s just nice to have a easy to read palate cleanser every once in a while.

The drawings were wonderful, it must have taken so much work because there was a drawing nearly every page, many of them taking up the entire spread! Unfortunately, the story was just okay. Not bad, but if there hadn’t been drawings or if it was much longer, I may not have finished the book.

This book is so special. Not just the sweet story, but the paper it's published on and the wonderful drawings make this book one that a child will want to keep and show their children.

This book sounded charming when I read the reviews and the excerpts but it was a hit with my granddaughter beyond my expectations. She is seven years old and read it with her mom. They both called me to say how very much they loved it. My granddaughter told her mom, when they came to the last page "I don't want it to be over !!" - I highly recommend this book.

There couldn't be a better description than, "Beautifully illustrated". The illustrations are one of the reasons I will be mentioning this book over and over again. Beside the beautiful sketches is a story about friendship, trust, loyalty and adventure. Now if that isn't enough to make a great children's book there is the "real story" weaved beautifully into this story about a mouse, a boy and a bird. John James Audubon (1785-1851) was a wildlife artist who captured and posed birds in order to document, sketched, and paint them. Now, we have The National Audubon Society whose mission is to conserve and restore natural ecosystems, focusing on bird and other wildlife. There is also a magazine that bares his name. What Henry Cole does with A Nest for Celeste is take history and embellish it with a lovely tale about a basket weaving mouse, who is looking for a home of her own all alone in this great big world. She is taken under the "pocket" of Joseph, (Audobon's young assistant). She makes friends, helps others and eventually shows Joseph and Audubon that you do not have to injure, or kill a bird to capture its beauty on canvas. The book has 342 pages but the pictures (some of them full page, makes it go quick). Great chapter book for readers between 6-12, the pictures make it thrilling for the younger kids if you are reading to them and the older kids will love the idea of a big "kid" book. There are pictures, pictures and text and full "grown up" pages of story throughout the book. If I were a kid this would be the ideal read. Heck, it was the ideal read for me as an adult.

Celest is a beautiful gentle being and there is no presumption of wanting greatness or great things. She wants a home. It is a simple story very well told for any age.

As someone who has loved the great anthropomorphizing stories - Kenneth Grahame, E.B.White, George Selden, Robert O'Brien, Tor Seidler etc - I was naturally drawn to this book when told about it. Having a young daughter named Celeste made it even more attractive. And finally, to discover that it was extensively illustrated with many double-page spreads used as backdrops to the text whetted my appetite even more. Couldn't resist, so I bought it. And what a good thing I did. This is a modern classic. It is utterly wonderful. The astonishing suite of drawings matches anything done by Garth Williams, Ernest Shepherd and Fred Marcellino, and the story manages deftly to avoid the all-too-easy sentimental drivel that so many 'animal stories' disintegrate into. Its natural history detailing is a delight, the recreation of Audubon's biography is effortlessly achieved and the sub-group of other animals is completely convincing. For a book of this nature, with the extraordinary amount of work involved in producing 350 pages most of which are illustrated could have been a case of 'all very impressive but sadly rather dull'. But happily in Henry Cole's case, the inspiration completely dominates the perspiration. It is overwhelmingly an enchantment above all else, and so much better for it. As for the criticism by another critic of its poor quality paper, they need to see a psychiatrist. The paper in fact is of a lovely light quality and attractively deckle-edged. Two and a half year old children will rip any paper, even one reinforced with steel. My Celeste, at five, only now respects the physical properties of a book, and as a bibliophile, let me tell you, I've tried! This book should be a candidate for the Newbery Medal. It's a marvel. A true marvel.