An effective presentation of a charismatic creature.
A busy book about a famously busy insect.
It could be said that this volume is swarming with facts: about the great variety of bee species, as well as bee anatomy, life cycle, senses, and more. These topics are presented in discrete double-page spreads that bustle with images of the insects. Laid out for readers who like their information nonlinear, paragraphs of text are placed amid the bees and flowers that populate Chakrabarti’s compositions. Explicating a four-step diagram of pollination, for instance, separate paragraphs describe how the pollen from one flower’s stamen makes its way to another flower’s pistil. Hoare takes care to use appropriate scientific vocabulary, printed in boldface and defined in context. Some of this specialized vocabulary, such as electroreception, proboscis, and resin, also makes its way into a two-page appended glossary. Honeybees dominate most children’s nonfiction about bees, and there are certainly plenty of them here. But Hoare and Chakrabarti do their best to share the love, introducing the sweat bee, the blue carpenter bee, the orchid cuckoo bee, and many more. In addition to the attention it pays to global bee diversity, this effort stands out for its explicit and accurate (if a tad oversimplified) assurance that “honeybees are not in trouble, because beekeepers look after them,” and its eminently child-friendly suggestions for helping wild bees.
An effective presentation of a charismatic creature. (index) (Nonfiction. 6-10)Pub Date: June 2, 2026
ISBN: 9798887772738
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Nosy Crow
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Another playful imagination-stretcher.
Markle invites children to picture themselves living in the homes of 11 wild animals.
As in previous entries in the series, McWilliam’s illustrations of a diverse cast of young people fancifully imitating wild creatures are paired with close-up photos of each animal in a like natural setting. The left side of one spread includes a photo of a black bear nestling in a cozy winter den, while the right side features an image of a human one cuddled up with a bear. On another spread, opposite a photo of honeybees tending to newly hatched offspring, a human “larva” lounges at ease in a honeycomb cell, game controller in hand, as insect attendants dish up goodies. A child with an eye patch reclines on an orb weaver spider’s web, while another wearing a head scarf constructs a castle in a subterranean chamber with help from mound-building termites. Markle adds simple remarks about each type of den, nest, or burrow and basic facts about its typical residents, then closes with a reassuring reminder to readers that they don’t have to live as animals do, because they will “always live where people live.” A select gallery of traditional homes, from igloo and yurt to mudhif, follows a final view of the young cast waving from a variety of differently styled windows.
Another playful imagination-stretcher. (Informational picture book. 6-8)Pub Date: May 7, 2024
ISBN: 9781339049052
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 3, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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