Archive | November 6, 2020

Esmeralda’s Nest

Esmeralda's Nest

Esmeralda’s Nest

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Esmeralda’s Nest

Robert Moore

Mandy Foot

MidnightSun, 2020

32pp., hbk., RRP $A29.99

 9781925227666

Esmeralda, the saddleback sow, is acting quite strangely. Each day, regardless of the weather she roots around the farm collecting a variety of objects that she takes back to deposit under the cattle ramp. What is causing this strange nest-building behaviour?

From the engaging endpapers that offer interesting information about pigs and piglets this is a charming story for young readers about a week in the life of a pig as she prepares to give birth.  Like the farmer and his children, the reader wonders what Esmeralda is doing with all the treasure she is collecting but it all makes sense at the end. Young readers can learn the days of the week, and perhaps predict what the next day will be, what its weather will be because that changes daily, and what Esmeralda might find that day.  And all the while the endless round of farm chores carries on in the pictures which are packed with detail for the sharp-eyed reader. City students can get a glimpse of rural life that they might be unaware of – particularly the role the children play!

For anyone teaching an introductory unit about farms and farming, this is a perfect accompaniment to exploring what is, to many, an unfamiliar environment with something new to explore on each page.