Semâ Bekirović, born and raised in a boathouse on the canals of Amsterdam, observed the behaviour of a pair of coots building their nests. She scattered likely nest-building material on the water beside the nest to help the birds. The coots took what they found useful, building a colourful nest of things like Semâ's old toothbrush, bits of postcards, nude pictures, old plastic toys and more. Semâ photographed the process twice a week. Veenman Publishers spotted the project at the Open Studios exhibition of the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, loved it, and decided to publish this marvellous book.