Wheel on the Chimney

With this story opening in Hungary, I have a special bias toward liking it. It teaches us about the unique aspects of storks: how they nest, how they behave, how they migrate. There are dramatic moments when we come to wordless double-page spreads in vibrant colors that illustrate the previous section of text. I can imagine a collective gasp from children in a story time at these points. I certainly have a new appreciation for storks after this fine story.

At first I thought this 1954 book looked dated and boring. But, upon a closer look, I have decided I like this story. Not knowing much about storks, I have learned that many consider a stork to bring good luck. Evidently, people attempt to attract nesting pairs by placing wheels on chimney tops for them to use a nesting base.

I also discovered that they are related to, of all things, flamingos!and greet them upon the southern end of their migratory path.

The book follows a cycle of Spring and birth, Winter and flight south, and then the trail North again. Children should enjoy the pattern as well as the colorful pictures and the introduction to the types of storks, black and white.

This Caldecott winner is a great book to teach children about migration patterns and storks. It shows a full life of a stork and how they fly from place to place as the weather changes. Very pretty illustration to compliment the story. It is an fiction book but also informational to young children. I thought that the author did a good job by teaching as well as entertaining. I would use this book to teach children about birds and their migration patterns.

This book is informative about storks, migration patterns, and different countries. Also it talks about how storks bring good luck to the houses they decide to nest on top of. One stork gets tired on his journey back North for spring and lands on a ship. The captain of the ship gives him food and a chair to nest in. Once the bird regains energy he flies off the ship and finds other storks to migrate with.

Wheel on the chimney by Margaret Wise Brown
So happy to find yet another of Margarets book that her estate has released.
This one is about storks that make their nest on top of the wheel at a farmers house.
Interested how the wheel gets there and what happens to the stork over the course of the year...
I received this book from National Library Service for my BARD (Braille Audio Reading Device).

A read for older kids. I can use this book to teach about birds and how they migrate and are always starting over new. They fly to new places as the weather changes. I even learned that storks can be considered to bring good luck. Again we see Brown writing about animals.

This is a great book that can inform children about birds going to different countries. The book is very colorful and informative.