It’s a testament to an author when their work can be beautiful, moving, educational and disgusting all in the same book. Somewhere in a combination of those adjectives is the secret sauce for getting elementary-aged readers hooked into a subject matter they otherwise might not be attracted to. Honeybee, The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohman is an oversized illustrated book that wrangles all of those things, as well as a little poetry AND a narrative device. The result is a coherent story that has action, the wonder of life, the reality of death, and the promise of a new day. As a bonus, it’s also a true story about something all kids and parents know of, but really don’t know anything about.
That’s the case for us. I know Carpenter Bees and hornets, but the rest of the genus bee family merge together. I’ve heard about the plight of the honeybee and knew a little about their lives, but it’s never interested me. Honeybee is the illustrated book I needed to read when I was in elementary school. It’s educational without letting readers know that they’re learning something. It’s fun and immersive that gets readers interested in a small insect that they’ve only known who has the ability to sting them.
Honeybee also has an introduction of sorts. There are three pages that introduce readers to a newborn honey bee as it’s popping its head out of the six-sided chamber that it has called home. Once we see the main bee character of the story the page zooms out to where we see hundreds of bees just like it. This also serves as the title page for the book. It sets the scale of the book in that it hopes to be something big, as well as small, where it looks at the individual bee, but also its greater place in the world. It is also impossible to look at the title page and not have some momentous, cinematic music immediately start playing in your mind.
The book follows the life cycle of a honeybee, from birth to death. Spoiler alert, you kind of know how the book ends now, but not really. Honeybee also has a keen sense of mystery and anticipation. When readers first meet the baby bee we’re teased at the fact that they’ll be flying soon, because, what else do honey bees do right? Actually, they clean up the old nursery, transfer nectar, feed the larvae, build honeycomb, and guard one of the hive’s openings against predators-and they do all of that in their first 25 days! Consider that honeybees only live for around 35 days that is a huge deal.
The time that they spend actually flying and collecting nectar isn’t that much, but they’ll fly miles, beat their wings millions of times (200 X a second), and grow thinner, slower and lose their hair. In a nutshell, the honeybee is kind of like you and I, only we can’t fly, and don’t have a queen (unless you live in England, Monaco, Thailand, or one of the 40 other countries).
In Honeybee, The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera the book’s size draws you in, the content is effortless to digest and the illustrations are a combination of macro and micro-tastic. It’s a small world that the honeybee resides in, yet the illustrations are up close at times, allowing you to see the minuscule hair under their eyes. When you open up the gatefold, where the bee finally takes flight you’ll see how big its world really is. Sure, it’s just a field you and me, but to them, it exists for the solitary reason of being home to the flower that it’s searching for.
Honeybee is a big, beautiful illustrated book that will remain in your forever library, even if you’ve been stung by one of them or are allergic to pollen. It’s a bit long to re-read it as a good-night book. However, it’s so interesting and pretty that young readers will want to dive into the book and find out about this buzzing insect who has a bad rap.
Honeybee The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera is by Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann and on Holiday House Publishing. There’s also a great lesson plan for teachers that revolve around the book and its subject matter.
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