Nest, Nook & Cranny

NEST, NOOK & CRANNY
Illustrated by Jamie Hogan
Written by Susan Blackaby

Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishers
ISBN-13: 9781580893503
Ages 8-Adult

Available in Hardcover
Locate a Copy Amazon | B&N | Indiebound

“Jamie Hogan’s numerous and gorgeous charcoal pencil drawings, including the two-page spreads that introduce each habitat, give Nest, Nook, and Cranny the appearance of a beloved field journal…”
–Curled Up With a Good Kid’s Book

DESCRIPTION
From tongue-in-cheek sonnets to lyrical free verse, Susan Blackaby’s poems explore the many kinds of homes animals make for themselves. Jamie Hogan’s expressive line art is perfect complements to this clever collection of habitat poems. Extensive back matter provides intriguing information on animal habitats and the ins and outs of writing poetry.

RESOURCES
READ about the creation and sharing of Nest, Nook & Cranny
(JamiePeeps Blog Posts)
READ an Interview with Susan and Jamie (Kirby’s Lane)
READ about the Nest, Nook & Cranny at Great Kids Books
VIEW the StoryWalk created and available for reproduction

Jamie Hogan Illustration from NEST, NOOK & CRANNY

REVIEWS & ACCOLADES
New York Public Library’s 100 Titles for Reading and Sharing
Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry

“Pastel and charcoal pencil line drawings perfectly match the tone of the poems and give support to the information revealed in them as well. The drawing that goes with the heron poem gives life to the lines: “Herons walk with stilted steps/Stalking, cautious, through the marsh…Every school and public library needs to own this gem.”
—Children’s Literature

“In the case of Blackaby’s title, Hogan includes black and white endpapers packed full of crabs, pinecones, snakes, and various flora and fauna. The pictures inside the book are rendered accurately without even so much as a sniffle of anthropomorphism or cartoonish emotion. Hogan’s preferred method of madness is to render her images in pastels and charcoal pencils on Canson paper. The results are thick black lines and creatures where the texture of the paper itself pokes through the images. This is particularly effective when Hogan has created the dappled scales of a fish in a pond. She tones it down when she wants to be detailed though, as with a delicate hermit crab or fur of a bee. And if I don’t miss my guess, sometimes Hogan uses the paper to its best natural advantage, as when she creates an instant honeycomb by merely outlining the already existing hexagons of the paper.”
–E. R. Bird, Fuse #8 Production, School Library Journal

“Blackaby’s descriptive untitled poems about mammals, insects, and birds are arranged in sections by habitat—desert, grassland, shoreline, wetland, woodland—in sketchbook format, along with accomplished realistic charcoal pencil drawings on textured paper…This is a special book that teachers will find useful and nature lovers will treasure.”
—School Library Journal

“This lively poetry collection pairs verse about animals with black-and-white drawings of creatures in their natural habitats. From sea to desert to wetland and forest, the various settings, accompanied by notes on nature, will grab young conservationists…Teachers will welcome the extensive final notes on animal habitats and poetic forms for science and creative-writing classes.”
—Booklist

“Jamie Hogan’s numerous and gorgeous charcoal pencil drawings, including the two-page spreads that introduce each habitat, give Nest, Nook, and Cranny the appearance of a beloved field journal – indeed, this would make a good book to take along on a nature hike…This is a terrific book for naturalists and poets of all ages.”
–Curled Up With a Good Kid’s Book

“I can’t write a review of this book without discussing the beautiful illustrations. For me that add the little extra to this book. Sure it would have still been an good collection of poems but those illustrations by Hogan are the icing on the cake. The bear gazing at the bee hive or the otter lazily swimming along, what can I say I loved this book.”
–The Joys of Reading

“This stunning book of poems has it all. “Poetry, animal behavior, ecosystems, habitats, figurative language,” says the Charlesbridge site. I agree.
Plus, I’d add mood and voice. And art. I read Nest, Nook, & Cranny for the science. Open the book and look at the fabulous endpapers. I was hooked before I’d read a word…The charcoal line drawings fit the mood perfectly and rendered the images in a realistic way that suited each poem and introduces each habitat across the spread with simple lines and shading.”
–SimplyScience

Jamie Hogan Illustration from NEST, NOOK & CRANNY