Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 3-Young readers will be awed by the amount of information packed into this brief book. The bold, gouache illustrations reinforce the hard work and myriad tasks described. From the opening pages, bees are shown on the move, gathering nectar, feeding larvae, maturing, cleaning and polishing cells, making wax, taking care of the queen, unloading nectar, and guarding the hives. Like the bees, readers jump from one concept to another and may become confused by the changing roles and stages, not realizing that a worker bee and a forager bee are the same. There is also some confusion between the diagrams and the text. The text refers to a bee's tongue whereas the diagram shows only a proboscis. Heiligman also states that bees use every part of their body to do their work but no mention is made of the role of the thorax, forelegs, or compound eye. Nonetheless, readers will learn how bees communicate, the role of royal jelly, and just how hardworking honeybees really are. An attractive addition.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
This well-written, detailed description of the honeybee is given added appeal by the colorful, full-page gouache illustrations of a girl observing and drawing diagrams of the bees. The six-week-long life of the worker bee is depicted, from the egg through a series of working stages to her final task of collecting nectar. An activity (Dance like a Honeybee) is appended. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
