A Nest for Celeste: A Story About Art, Inspiration, and the Meaning of Home (Celeste, #1)

Celeste is not your average mouse. She lives alone, quietly weaving baskets with creative flair under the floor boards of the Oakley Plantation. However, Celeste’s world turns upside down with the arrival of the great naturalist John James Audubon and his assistant Joseph, who have come to study and paint the birds of the Louisiana bayou. Their arrival coincides with Celeste’s sudden displacement from her home below to a guest room upstairs. There she watches young Joseph struggle to create the backgrounds for Audubon’s bird paintings. As the two homesick souls strike up a friendship, the mouse secretly puts her artistic skills to good use; she simultaneously helps Joseph improve his compositions while aiding the wounded birds that Audubon captures for his studies. Nearly every page of author-illustrator Henry Cole's fine novel combines text and remarkable drawn images to tell the story of a mouse in need of a home of her own from the tiny creature's unique vantage point.

a Beautifully Illustrated Novel About A Mouse, Her Friendship With Audubon's Apprentice, And Her Search For Home.

beneath The Crackled And Faded Painting Of A Horse, Underneath The Worn And Dusty Floorboards Of The Dining Room, Lives Celeste, A Mouse Who Spends Her Days Weaving Baskets, Until One Day She Is Thrust Into The World Above. Here Celeste Encounters Danger—and Love—unlike Any She's Ever Imagined. She Dodges A Hungry Cat And Witnesses The Brutality Of Hunting For The First Time. She Makes Friends With A Singing Thrush Named Cornelius, A Talkative Osprey Named Lafayette, And Joseph, Audubon's Young Apprentice. All The While, Celeste Is Looking For A New Home. Is Her Home In The Toe Of A Worn Boot? Nestled In Joseph's Pocket? Or In The Dollhouse In The Attic, Complete With Mouse-size Furniture Perfect For Celeste? In The End, Celeste Discovers That Home Is Really The Place Deep Inside Her Heart, Where Friendships Live.

publishers Weekly

fantasy And Natural History Blend Comfortably In Illustrator Cole’s (jack’s Garden) First Novel, As A Louisiana Plantation—where Wildlife Artist John James Audubon And His Young Assistant, Joseph, Stayed For Several Months In 1821—provides The Setting For This Story Of A Gentle, Brave Mouse’s Search For A Home. Persecuted By Bad-tempered Rats And On The Run From A Predatory House Cat, Celeste Is Rescued By Joseph, Who Nurtures And Confides In Her, Carrying Her In His Pocket While He And Audubon Seek Birds And Plants To Illustrate. The Volume And Cinematic Quality Of Cole’s Naturalistic Pencil Drawings Recall The Invention Of Hugo Cabret; They Pull Readers Into Celeste’s World, Capturing Her Vulnerability, Courage, And Resourcefulness (an Expert Basket Weaver, She Constructs Her Own Means Of Rescue When Lost). Away From Humans, Celeste Converses Freely With Other Animals; In Joseph’s Presence, However, Celeste Bears Witness To The Cruel (by Contemporary Standards) Methods Audubon Used To Create His Drawings, One Of A Few Moments That Might Trouble More Sensitive Readers. Evocative Illustrations, Compelling Characters, And Thoughtful Reflections On The Nature Of Home Combine To Powerful Effect. Ages 8–12. (mar.)

A fanciful history lesson for middle graders, featuring a charming mouse named Celeste. Celeste is a mouse who is looking for a home. Is it nestled in the toe of a warm boot? In the shirt pocket of Celeste’s new friend Joseph? Or is home the place deep inside Celeste’s heart, where friendships live? Beautifully illustrated with hundreds of black-and-white drawings, A Nest for Celeste is a short novel that tells the story a mouse living in the 1800s and his friendship with John James Audubon’s young apprentice. While enjoying this sweet amd appealing story, young readers will also learn about nineteenth-century plantation life and the famous naturalist who was known for his paintings of birds and American wildlife. Celeste, a mouse longing for a real home, becomes a source of inspiration to teenaged Joseph, assistant to the artist and naturalist John James Audubon, at a New Orleans, Louisiana, plantation in 1821.