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Who Stole the Bird's Nest?

A nursery rhyme from Mother Goose, illustrated by John Gilbert and others

This nursery rhyme comes from a nineteenth-century collection called Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes, illustrated by well-known artists including Walter Crane and John Tenniel. A robin discovers her nest and eggs have been stolen, and she asks each farm animal if they took it. Each animal says no—they all helped her build the nest by giving hay, hairs, wool and feathers. At last, a little boy who took the nest feels so ashamed he hides behind the bed. This gentle rhyme helps young children think about taking things that belong to others, and about the feeling of shame when we do something wrong. This text reflects its era.

Band

Purple · Pre-readers and first readersTypical starting range: ages 4–5

Length

short · about 312 words in 5 sections · 4 pictures

Source

Mother Goose's Nursery Rhymes, John Gilbert, Walter Crane, John Tenniel, Harrison Weir and Johann Baptist Zwecker

First published

see the About page in the reader

Regions

Canada · United States

Included formats

• · Web reader and PDF
• · EPUB for e-readers
• · Home-print sheet
• · Folded booklet
• · Binder edition (8.5 × 11)
• · Worksheet
• · Quick Check (6 questions) with answer key
• · Read-aloud script
• · Colouring page
• · Teacher’s Edition (members)

Readers are engineered from the original public-domain text with AI under HummingRead’s published canon and Content Philosophy, checked by automated audit and sampled by a person. Pictures are made with AI to HummingRead’s brief for each story. How a reader is made.

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