World Bee Day – May 20, 2020

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera

Candace Fleming, Author

Eric Rohmann, Illustrator

Neal Porter Books/Holiday House , Nonfiction, Feb. 4, 2020

Suitable for Ages: 6-9

Themes: Honeybees, Life cycle, Bee colony, Collecting nectar

Opening: One summer morning deep in the nest, a brand-new honeybee squirms, pushes, chews through the wax cap of her solitary cell and into…a teeming, trembling flurry. Hummmmm!

Book Summary:

And so begins the story of Apis mellifera.

Follow the life cycle of this devoted and extraordinary worker as she cleans the hive, tends to larvae and the queen, builds wax comb, and guards the hive from invaders — before embarking on her first flight to seek nectar.

Why I like this book:

Candace Fleming’s nonfiction book about the secret life of bees is a story about the wonder of nature. I have always been fascinated with honey bees, but I have never  understood them as much as I do now.  I am in total awe!

Fleming’s text is lyrical and full of suspense. It is storytelling at its best. Children will have a close-up view of the birth of a honeybee, watch her grow and instinctively know what she has to do to fill her destiny as a worker in the hive.  Her life-span is only 35 days.

Readers (including adults) will be captivated with Eric Rohmann’s breathtaking oil paintings that are larger than life. The illustrations are so detailed that children will see each fuzzy hair on the honeybee, her straw-like tongue (not visible to the human eye), and her antennae. The building of each comb in the hive is a marvel. There is a beautiful centerfold spread of the honeybee’s first flight.

Make sure you check out the fascinating information in the backmatter. It includes a two-page diagram of the different parts of a honeybee; factual information about bees and the colony; the various flight dances that bees do to communicate flower sources; how to help the diminishing bee populations; and National Geographic online video resources.

Resources: Many children are afraid of bees. I remember being afraid as a child. This book may help them with their fears if they can study and talk about bees in their classroom or at home. Set aside an area in your backyard or school where you can plant a wildflower garden with the flowers and thistle that may attrack bees. Then watch and count the different kinds of bees that visit specific flowers.

Candace Fleming is the author of more than twenty distinguished books for children including The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion and the Fall of Imperial Russia, winner of, among other awards, the Boston Globe — Horn Book Award for Nonfiction, the NCTE Orbis Pictus Award, and a Sibert Honor.

Every Friday, authors and KidLit bloggers post a favorite picture book. To see a complete listing of all the Perfect Picture Books (PPB) with resources, please visit author Susanna Leonard Hill’s website.

*Reviewed from a library copy.