Name of Book: The Perfect Nest
Author: Catherine Friend
Illustrator: John Manders
Publisher: Scholastic
Audience: 5+
Summary: A story about a cat who comes up with a plan that he believes will get him what he wants, many birds to lay eggs in the nest for him to make his omelets. After building the nest birds start to lay eggs and they hatch after the birds have left. The cat then must take care of the hatchlings and learns that caring for others is more important than fulfilling his intended plans.
Literary elements at work in the story: A picture book told from an omniscient narrator’s perspective. The story is set on a farm. It shows the interaction of the different birds with one another, the cat’s interaction with the birds, and finally the cats interaction with the hatchlings. The theme is realizing that God’s plans are not our plans.
How does the perspective on gender/race/culture/economic/ability make a difference to the story? The story is fictional and the characters are animals. The main character is a male and the other characters are female and babies. It stands in opposition to the cultural assumptions that women are the primary caregivers of children.
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 3:1-8
Theology: Our plan for life is not God’s plan for our life, and even though we may be unaware of it, God will eventually reveal to us God’s plan for our life. Most of the time, God’s plan for us is better than what our plan would have been.
Faith Talk Questions:
- What was originally important to Jack the Cat?
- What changes Jack’s feelings about what’s important?
- What does this story tell us about God’s plans for us?
- Does God use us for things we didn’t think we could be used for?
Review prepared by Mason Todd, Union-PSCE in Charlotte
Filed under: Book Reviews, Books written for Grades 1 -3 (Ages 6-8), Books written for Grades 5-8 (Ages 10 -13), Faith Questions For...., Nonfiction, Older Elementary, Younger Elementary Tagged: | Call, God, Nurture
