Wonderful book that I can't wait to share with my grandkids. I kept thinking as I read it, that the author should have included some geography as part of the stories of all the wonderful and interesting creatures she tells about. Surprise! The last several pages are just that - detailed description of each creature and it's habitat. Fantastic!

I loved this book. It’s short and basic, (it is a picture book after all) and beautifully illustrated. A perfect way to provide both basic information to young children and ignite their interest in the natural world and the creatures that inhabit it.
Highly recommend.

This book is about a large number of animals and how and why they build their homes. There are birds, insects, arachnids, mammals, reptiles and more. Loved the illustrations and the helpful information that went along with each animal. I especially loved all of the birds included.

We build Our Homes by Laura Knowles

is a wonderful, beautifully illustrated children's books about the various houses created by animals.

Our house is a nest, a secure place where to return, and a place in grade to speak of our habits, our customs, our traditions. It's the passage of our existence, what we love, what we want to keep close to us; it defines us much better than anything else.

For animals is the same. In fact, we use expression like "Our nest, an empty nest" because we feel that connection; like the rest of animals we are part of the place where we live in.

Each of the animals, humans included taken in consideration have a profound and marked soul and specific habits and modality for building their own houses.

Of course it is a story of environment where they live in, what they find around, and their nature.

Told using the first person, the narrator in each occasion will introduce the animal protagonist of the pages; we will open the doors of houses of a lot of birds, and then bees, termites the one of a spider, weaver ants, gopher tortoise, meerkats, moles, polar bears! the so-called prairie dogs; we will visit the house of a harvest mice, the one of beavers, and so on.

They will explain to you and your children why they build their homes in a certain way; why they search for certain materials; what they expect from that house and why a house built in a certain way to them it is so important for growing up at the best their children.
They could search for warm; they could find materials outside, or like bees do, they build their house just by themselves, and it is a geometrical work, you will see.

Great book this one, funny, plenty of great informations I am sure that children will learn a lot. Adults as well.
There were some spieces of animals I still didn't know.

Highly recommended.

I thank NetGalley and Quarto for this ebook.

I had really high hopes for this book and had ideas of being able to use it for both my Stories and Steam program at the library as well as Jr Scientist at the park but it's too long to do that so that was my first let down. The illustrations we pretty well done, but I prefer nonfiction books about animals to use real pictures and I think with this book that could have been done very easily to show what these homes and animals look like in real life through photographs instead of illustrations. I liked that the book had things sort of split by category so it moved from birds to insects to (one) reptile to mammals so that was a definite plus for this book. I also liked that at the very end they had "fact files" but while I was reading it was bothering me that there wasn't a range listed for the animals and I think the fact files would have served their purpose better if they were on the page with the animals instead of compiled at the back.

What a delightful picture book. We Build Our Homes is very informative and gives insight on how animals and humans build their homes. Animals include honeybees, trapdoor spiders, meerkats, termites, polar bears, chimpanzees and so on. With beautiful and colorful illustrations accompanying each story, these stories are long enough to pique a child's interest in animals and their habitats. Highly recommend to everyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a fun and educational story about animals that build. Be it homes or a means to attract a mate, they do a workmanlike and wonderful job, and they live all over the world.

In a series of colorful and beautifully-done illustrations by Chris Madden, and with some rather poetic prose from Laura Knowles, the story is told from the animal's perspective and describes (from the blurb): "mammals, birds, and insects [which] can be found building incredible things. From biggest beaver dams to tinniest caddisfly cases...." There are the exotic, such as ovenbirds, which build adobe huts on tree branches, and the amazing Darwin's bark spiders, which build gigantic webs, to the more mundane, such as moles, to the highly endangered by human stupidity and lethargy: polar bears, who can build a toasty home out of icy snow in bitterly cold weather, and then starve themselves for five months while their cubs almost literally suck them dry!

The book doesn't focus solely on fluffy mammals like too many children's books do, but covers some insects, reptiles, as well as birds, and features some more grown-up details in the back for interested adults - and every adult should be interested in what we're doing to our home even as these animals struggle to continue to build their own. Every kid needs to be raised with a deep appreciation for nature and for the damage humans can do when we think only of ourselves and not of our home - Planet Earth, Anything which can bring kids a keener awareness of nature, and how it works, and how delicate some of it is, is to be welcomed, and I commend this for being an important part of that education.

Beautifully illustrated and packed with great information about animals and the homes that they build, a great addition to any library, and a great gift for the child who loves animals.

We Build Our Homes is such a cute, readable nonfiction book, telling the stories of animals who are known for building homes -- especially unique ones. Each species of animal has a beautifully illustrated two-page spread to tell its story from a first person perspective (as the "we" in the title implies), which I think makes the text more story-like for young children.

We learn about birds, insects, mammals, and more animals that build their houses out of many different materials and in many different settings. One of the most interesting to me were the edible-nest swiftlets, birds who build their nests in caves -- and their nests are made out of their own saliva!

The text here manages to be both informative and readable, while remaining at a level that preschoolers can still appreciate. For older children, the book is not too wordy to read in one sitting.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)

We Build Our Homes by Laura Knowles and illustrated by Chris Madden highlights what all animals on earth share: homes. But homes don’t serve the same purpose for all; some are meant to attract mates, others for comfort or storage, and even more to protect.

Told from the perspective of the builders, Knowles takes the reader through the construction of nests, dams, mounds, tunnels, webs, and even houses. The book includes three sections featuring birds, “minibeasts” (insects and reptiles), and mammals. The information is fascinating. Before reading this book, I am embarrassed to say I didn’t realized the range of nests birds built! The diverse homes of bees, spiders, and ants give insight into their behavior. And it’s so fun seeing polar bears, meerkats, and chimpanzees. Given the limited space, Knowles selected an interesting range of species to include in the book.

The illustrations are fabulous and pair nicely with the text which is detailed enough to provide stimulating details but not so much as to overwhelm young readers. A fact file at the end of the book includes all the species described with their range and habitat.

At times, the language is a bit flowery for my taste, but it’s very possible that will be a selling point for younger readers. I wish that the sections had a clearer delineation, perhaps with a page separating them, but that might be an artifact of my electronic copy.

This is a great book for young readers who are interested in animals and/or ecology, and I would be surprised if their caretakers didn’t learn something new as well.

I'm always on the lookout for great books to gift children of friends and family. This one did not disappoint! We Build Our Homes includes a good range of animals from around the world, shows the types of homes they build through beautiful illustrations and description and at the end, each featured animals native area is documented. Younger kids will enjoy the colorful illustrations while older kids so enjoy learning about the unique structures different animals build. Great gift to bring more nature to our often too tech-obsessed kids!

Thank you to Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this interesting book in exchange for my honest review.

What a charming book! The children in your life will love this - especially when they become interested in animals. It's filled with charming illustrations and clear language.

This would make an amazing gift for a primary teacher or for a child learning to read. It would also be a great gift for a child who is moving from one home to another.

Awesome book! I love looking a the animal homes in my neighborhood. The nests are so well built.Robins build the nicest ones I think! But there are even better nest builders in the world-weaver bird comes to mind and is covered in this book! I've seen burrowing animals, but have no way to look inside their nests, so I have to see them on Nat Geo! Barring that, littles will enjoy this book of animal homes. So many animals are covered in it! I love the illustrations and am sure that when we get the book they will look even more amazing in color!

Going from insects to birds to mammals, Knowles picks out some of the most unique nests/homes built out in the wild. Supported by illustrations, we get to see what everything looks like, why it's building it, and any other interesting benefits that come along with the construction (e.g. other animals might utilize a tunnel).

This looks to be a great introduction for kids, helping to stoke that fire of wildlife curiosities and a great conduit to help them realize just how amazing the world can be.

I'll be picking this one up for the daughter. Really great presentation.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the advance read.

Our grade school aged children always have a lot of questions about animal habitats so this was a great book to read with them. Not only were the illustrations beautiful but it was super informative and a great way to connect us to the animals around us.

"Our homes are places we share with our families. Our homes are places where we can rest and feel safe. Animals build for the same reason. "

Each page shared about a different animal and why, where and how they build their home. There were a wild array of animals this covered and we learned so much from reading it. A big thank you To Net Galley and Quarto Publishing for sending us a copy of this book, all opinions are my own.

This is a very impressive, informative, colorful picture book about the different types of homes that birds, insects, arachnids, and mammals build for themselves. They do so to raise their young, to attract mates, and to take shelter.

Some very delightful examples, including bower birds, trapdoor spiders, and meerkats.

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-19-at-8.18.42-PM.png" alt="We build our homes" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4852" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-19-at-8.19.22-PM.png" alt="we build our homes" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4851" />

<img src="https://g2comm.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Screen-Shot-2018-12-19-at-8.19.55-PM.png" alt="we build our homes" class="alignnone size-full wp-image-4850" />

The text is very brief, this is a picture book, after all, but the important information about the why and what is included. The pictures are wonderful too.

All and all delightful, early biological book on animals and how they live.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

I loved this children’s picture book. This nonfiction book looks at how twenty-five animals and humans, build their homes. Animals include weaver birds, termites, trapdoor spiders, honeybees, polar bears, and harvest mice. Each animal’s page includes wonderful illustrations by Madden that brings the animal’s habitat to life. This book is definitely able to be read and reread over time.

Thank you NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for the opportunity to read an advance reader copy.