FANTAIL'S QUILT

After her first nest is invaded by a rat, a mother fantail bird begins again, constructing a soft, warm nest where new eggs hatch successfully.

Fantails are tiny New Zealand birds, adapted to living in a variety of habitats, including suburban parks and gardens, and not particularly frightened of humans. Because of their familiarity, they’re a relatively common subject for children’s books there. For American readers, though, much about fantails and their environment will be new, and the attraction here may well be the visual presentation of that different world. The simple story is related in short bits of alliterative text plus sketches on panels that mimic quilt patches, complete with “stitching” in different colors around the edges. These are set directly on spreads painted mostly in greens and browns showing natural shapes from the birds’ world as well as more fantails in various postures. The endpapers provide a key to the plants and other animals Tolland pictures. These include a morepork (a type of owl), a rat, a grasshopperlike tree weta, and a red admiral butterfly as well as some ferns, flowers, leaves, and a tree. A few fast facts at the end offer more information about fantails.

Honored as a finalist for a New Zealand illustration award when it was first published in 2012, this story of determined bird parents can nest safely on American nature shelves as well.