Too Much Stuff!

by Emily Gravett, Emily Gravett (Illustrator)

Overview

Marie Kondo is for the birds in this hilarious picture book about expectant magpie parents and the dangers of having too many things!

Magpies Meg and Ash want to build the perfect nest for their eggs. They use the usual mud, sticks, and grass, but are soon convinced that it’s not enough! Meg and Ash collect all kinds of things—cuckoo clocks, mops, socks, and more—and put them in an ever-growing pile of what they might need to make a home for their chicks.

But as the tower of things grows more and more wobbly, the birds might just find out they have too much stuff!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534496170
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	06/22/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,091,483
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD820L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Emily Gravett is the author and illustrator of many children’s books, including Matilda’s Cat, Again!, Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal), Meerkat Mail, Tidy, and Old Hat. Her first book, Wolves, was the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Award for Illustration. Her second book, Orange Pear Apple Bear, was a Quills Award finalist, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, and on the shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Emily lives in Brighton, England, with her partner, their daughter, and the family dog. Visit her at EmilyGravett.com.

Emily Gravett is the author and illustrator of many children’s books, including Matilda’s Cat, Again!, Little Mouse’s Big Book of Fears (winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal), Meerkat Mail, Tidy, and Old Hat. Her first book, Wolves, was the winner of the Kate Greenaway Medal and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Honor Award for Illustration. Her second book, Orange Pear Apple Bear, was a Quills Award finalist, a Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year, a Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year, and on the shortlist for the Kate Greenaway Medal. Emily lives in Brighton, England, with her partner, their daughter, and the family dog. Visit her at EmilyGravett.com.

Editorial Reviews

2021-07-14
Two magpies try to fit everything but the kitchen sink into their nest.

Magpies Meg and Ash are enthusiastic homemakers and aspiring parents. In the tallest tree, they build a nest from classic materials: mud, grass, and sticks. “Then lastly, to keep it all cozy and clean, / they lined the whole thing with an old magazine.” Uh-oh! The magazine’s full of ads—quaint, old-fashioned ads that readers can peruse up-close on the endpapers—and a seed is planted. Meg and Ash don’t make any purchases (there’s no commerce in this animal world), but suddenly, all objects strike them as shiny and irresistible. Can the nest fit cuckoo clocks and socks? A bucket, a mop, a broom? Human-sized bicycles and an entire car? The nested accumulation eventually crashes down, causing a frantic search for the missing magpie eggs. The whole animal community (foxes, rabbits, bugs, more birds) pitches in. Gravett’s virtuosity at animal facial expressions is in top form, and her crisp, fine lines bring bright detail. Brilliant use of composition and white space showcases the magpies’ unbridled collecting but feels visually fascinating rather than busy. Much of the verse satisfies—Meg and Ash collect “a teddy abandoned by a bin, / the bin, and EVERYTHING within”— though the scansion sometimes slips: “The shiny bucket, and the lights / came clattering down from the heights.”

Cheerful, dear, and funny—with a comforting conclusion. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews