First there is one stork, then there are two. They build their nest on a wheel that a Hungarian farmer has tied to his chimney. The farmer is glad. Storks bring great honor and good luck to the house where they choose to build their nest.

All summer long the storks raise their family of two small white silent storks in the nest on the wheel on the chimney. Then autumn comes and joined by thousands of other storks they silently fly south, always south, heading for the deep warm wilderness of Africa, their winter home. And when springtime returns, the storks fly north, build new nests on wheels on chimneys, and their story begins all over again.

Wheel on the Chimney is the result of a wonderful collaboration between artist and author. Tibor Gergely had always wanted to do a picture book about the beautiful storks of Hungary, his native land. And when Margaret Wise Brown saw his lovely paintings, she was eager to write the story of the marvelous, brave birds whose cycle of migration brings them back each spring to build their nests on farmers' chimneys.