A charming introduction to beekeeping that needs further elaboration on bees’ environmental importance.
Williams explores backyard beekeeping in this illustrated children’s book.
Readers meet a boy nicknamed “Bugzee” for his love of all things related to insects. Bugzee knows a lot about bees thanks to a backyard apiary where his grandparents tend to honeybees. He can’t get too close, because he doesn’t have a beekeeping suit; instead, he watches the action through binoculars from his “honeybee headquarters” in the greenhouse. Bugzee is excited about a new package of bees arriving soon. His grandmother asks him to help with the bee boxes and frames, where the bees build their honeycomb and the queen lays her eggs. A sidebar explains that beehives typically have one queen bee, hundreds of drones, and thousands of worker bees. The queen bee lays all the fertilized eggs for the hive—up to 1 million in her lifetime. The drones are male and do not have stingers; their job is to mate with queens from other hives. The worker bees are female and tend to the housekeeping, feed the babies, make wax, and collect pollen and nectar. Bugzee’s mom informs him that a garden of native plants will be a source of nectar and pollen for the bees. In the final scene, Bugzee opens a box to find a new beekeeping suit. “I can’t wait to help take care of my very own hive!” he exclaims. This engaging children’s book balances narrative and nonfiction deftly, juxtaposing Bugzee’s scenes with sections of facts about beekeeping (including photographs). Williams simplifies complex bee-related concepts, like defining an apiary as a “bee yard” where “human-made beehives are located.” Unfortunately, while the story stresses that “We must do what we can to protect all species of bees because they play a vital role in ecosystems around the world,” it is not fully explained exactly how bees help the environment. Goshay’s bold digital illustrations incorporate the honeycombs’ hexagonal designs and golden hues while also emphasizing the characters’ faces, effectively conveying the family’s enthusiasm.
A charming introduction to beekeeping that needs further elaboration on bees’ environmental importance.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 9798396752795
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: July 2, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with...
Reynolds and Brown have crafted a Halloween tale that balances a really spooky premise with the hilarity that accompanies any mention of underwear.
Jasper Rabbit needs new underwear. Plain White satisfies him until he spies them: “Creepy underwear! So creepy! So comfy! They were glorious.” The underwear of his dreams is a pair of radioactive-green briefs with a Frankenstein face on the front, the green color standing out all the more due to Brown’s choice to do the entire book in grayscale save for the underwear’s glowing green…and glow they do, as Jasper soon discovers. Despite his “I’m a big rabbit” assertion, that glow creeps him out, so he stuffs them in the hamper and dons Plain White. In the morning, though, he’s wearing green! He goes to increasing lengths to get rid of the glowing menace, but they don’t stay gone. It’s only when Jasper finally admits to himself that maybe he’s not such a big rabbit after all that he thinks of a clever solution to his fear of the dark. Brown’s illustrations keep the backgrounds and details simple so readers focus on Jasper’s every emotion, writ large on his expressive face. And careful observers will note that the underwear’s expression also changes, adding a bit more creep to the tale.
Perfect for those looking for a scary Halloween tale that won’t leave them with more fears than they started with. Pair with Dr. Seuss’ tale of animate, empty pants. (Picture book. 5-8)Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-0298-0
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
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