A yellow bee flies low across a meadow attracting the attention of a bear, who imagines the “sticky honey, yummy honey, drippy honey, gooey honey” waiting at the end of the bee’s journey. This starts a sequence of events that confirms the bee’s statement that the presence of a bear means there’s trouble ahead. Maybe one bear can be fairly innocent, but two hungry geese see berries in their future, and then three little mice, looking for their own treats (“where there are geese, there’s corn”) have joined the parade of animals following the tiny bee. Creeping along towards the hive the animals try to keep quiet. “Buzz! Buzz! Growl! Growl! Honk! Honk! Squeak! Squeak! Shh!” Then “one yellow bee buzzed right into its nest . . . and one hundred yellow bees buzzed out!” The animals attempt to make a hasty retreat, each thinking the other is after them. Unfortunately, in their effort to get away, they all manage to trip over one another and collapse in a heap. Flying over the tangled animals, the bee claims, “I knew there’d be trouble.” Delightfully sunny illustrations depict the full range of emotions on the animals’ faces as they attempt to creep stealthily along—the tiptoeing bear is priceless—and then frantically try to escape. After pages of charming individual action, the next-to-last double-paged spread finds them all grinning together. These new friends need more adventures together. (Picture book. 3-7)
