Building

With a concise text and delicate, precise illustrations, this companion book to Cole's Nesting (2020) opens with a pair of industrious beavers. In late winter, they choose a small stream with maples and willows along its banks. They gnaw on some trees, toppling them and cutting off branches needed for building a dam to block the flow of water, creating a pond. In the middle, they construct a sturdy lodge with an underwater entrance. Inside, the female gives birth to three little ones, who are soon exploring the pond. When storms or predators threaten, the beavers retreat to the safety of their lodge. Stocked with food for winter, their home will shelter them throughout the year. Cole's fine gray-and-black line work depicts the beavers and their environment with graceful natural shapes defining the pond, the surrounding trees, and the animals. The use of color is minimal and all the more effective for it. In late winter, a pale blue tint appears in the sky. Spring brings a hint of green to the ground first and later to the trees, while in autumn, the maple leaves turn red, then brown, and fall to the ground. A beautiful introduction to beavers as builders and creators of their environment.

Sharing yet another example of the intricacies of animal home construction (see Nesting, rev. 3/20), Cole introduces readers to the masters of the trade: beavers. A practiced storyteller, Cole employs an engaging refrain ("Building, building. That is what beavers do best") to emphasize this theme as he constructs a year in the life of one beaver family. During the last days of winter in a bleak wood -- breathtakingly illustrated with fine ink lines, crosshatching, and a faint sky-blue wash -- a male and female search for a place to build their lodge. They select a stream with ample willow and maple trees, and, busy as, well, beavers, they begin cutting the trees, sizing the limbs, lugging them into the water, and creating a dam. Readers see time pass, first as wisps of green leaves announce spring; but soon, as a pond forms, this spot of color spreads to the surrounding grass and trees. The beavers construct a lodge, snug enough for three newborn kits and sturdy enough to withstand a strong storm. As the year progresses, they continue building and repairing. A few rust-colored leaves appear; the beavers prepare for winter, retreating to their sheltered snow-covered home. Neighboring wildlife departs, all color disappears, and a hush settles over the now-barren land, bringing this wondrous account full circle. Appended with a brief author's note. Betty Carter July/August 2022 p.141(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.