LITTLE BEE

Students teach a bully a lesson, with a little help from a friendly drag queen.

As the story opens, Bee and besties Sarah and Tiam—who call themselves the Winged Wonder Gang due to their love of all things bug—are working on a butterfly habitat school project. Tiam gets glitter glue on his pinky nail and asks his friends to paint the rest of his nails. Before they do, a mean classmate, Blake, makes fun of Tiam for being girly. At first, Tiam brushes it off, but eventually he starts ignoring Sarah and Bee and hanging out with other boys instead. The girls come up with a brilliant idea: invite Bee’s Uncle Andy (who performs as drag queen Peppa Mint) to do storytime at school. Can Peppa Mint help Tiam regain his sparkle? Much like its predecessor, this second series entry is all heart. Parents and students alike tend to drop wise words of wisdom. Neville’s thoughtful writing ensures that there’s more than meets the eye to everyone, even the so-called bullies. The bullying language feels a bit dated, but Blake’s gender policing is, sadly, just as current as ever. Thankfully, the diverse classroom displays a moving amount of solidarity, echoed in McKeown’s bubbly black-and-white artwork. Hints in the text imply that Tiam may be Persian and neurodivergent; Sarah may be Jewish. Bee and Blake are light-skinned; Bee has two dads.

A simple, affirming defense of gender creativity.