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HOME TWEET HOME by Courtney Dicmas

HOME TWEET HOME

by Courtney Dicmas ; illustrated by Courtney Dicmas

Pub Date: April 28th, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-38535-0
Publisher: Doubleday

A family of cave swallows decides that its nest is too small.

Ten brother and sister birds pile high atop one another, squeezing beak to beak and feather to feather to fit inside the nest. If only they had a bigger home! Then there would there be room for everybody, not to mention extra airspace for Rupert’s smelly feet and Cecil’s wheezy bagpipe notes. Big brother Burt and big sister Pippi set off to find a brand new—big—place to live. Unfortunately, it is not as easy as they hoped. The first spot, which seems nice and sturdy, is actually the shell of a turtle. The second, which appears soft and fluffy, happens to be on the back of a very bouncy cheetah. They go through many options—too pointy, too tall, too squishy, too…hungry (gulp)—until finally (as predicted with the title wordplay) they find their original home is where they belong. It is of course difficult to not draw immediate parallels to the timeless classic The Best Nest, by P.D. Eastman, especially given the avian theme, but Dicmas’ expressive, paint-splotched birds have an adventurous spirit all their own.

A few choppy parts lead to an uneven read-aloud, but the page-turn reveals are their own reward.

(Picture book. 3-6)