When the Bough Breaks. . . Too Much Stuff! by Emily Gravett

IN A TREE THAT WAS TALLER THAN ALL THE REST,

MEG AND ASH WERE BUSY BUILDING A NEST.

It was to be a grand home, built with mud, grass, and carefully selected sticks, perfectly fitted for their chicks. They even lined the nest with schnitzels of torn-up magazine pages. In this colorful, comfy-cozy nest, Meg soon laid four fine eggs.

But since there was only room for one of them to sit on the nest at a time, the other magpie had time on his or her hands (er, wings), to think of so many other things the nest might need.

AT FIRST THEY BROUGHT BACK LITTLE STUFF.

But soon the two became... COLLECTORS. First a pair of ornamental cuckoo clocks, a bag full of clothespins, tiny baby socks... but eventually . . .

THEY GOT SOME BIGGER STUFF!

. . .a full-to-bursting park trash receptacle, a junked baby carriage, a mop, broom, and scrub brush, and a trike and a big bike, with basket and bell!

AFTER THAT, THEY'D NEED A CAR,

WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN A STEP TOO FAR!

A classic used Volkswagon is the straw that, er, broke the limb, totally bringing the whole collection down to the ground with a CRACK!

And in a messy pile on the ground, all that stuff was...

. . . just trash! And then the two birds have a truly worrisome thought!

WHERE ARE OUR EGGS!

The two compulsive hoarders are all a-flutter as they get busy, removing, repurposing, and recycling the stuff, until they get down to their nest, where they discover--

You guessed it!--FOUR FINE CHICKS--eager to learn to fly, in noted author-illustrator Emily Gravett's latest, Too Much Stuff! (Simon and Schuster, 2021 Am. Ed.).

Emily Gravett, a two-time winner of the Kate Greenaway Award, Britain's version of our Caldecott Award, given for picture book art, and and here adds this gorgeously executed and joyfully humorous pencil and watercolor artwork. Told in rhyming couplets that keep the story flying along, this one makes a great read-aloud for preschool and primary aged kids, and a clever cautionary tale in anti-clutter-collecting for avians and non-avians! Says Kirkus, "Cheerful, dear, and funny—with a comforting conclusion."