The wind & the clover

Children will be delighted from the start as a bee waves to them in this fanciful story about ground bees. In Weber's tale, bees don't follow their usual routine of visiting blossoms; instead, individual bees fly off in various directions and discover fascinating new climates and environments. The first bee flies north and finds a flower emerging from the snow-covered ground; the second bee flies in a westerly direction, encountering a desert covered in blooming cacti. Colorful illustrations in gouache and pencil on watercolor paper reveal smiling bees as they set out on their adventures. The pictures offer a seek-and-find game and the highly camouflaged bees can usually be found with their plump yellow and black back ends sticking out of a flower. In an author's note, the author/illustrator explains her purpose in presenting a book about a bee species that may be unfamiliar to youngsters. Because the busy pictures are filled with minute details, this title will work best for one-on-one sharing so children can study the flowers, insects, and other creatures that cover each page.

Weber (On the Day the Horse Got Out) offers fairy tale prose and marvelously rich, folk-style gouache and pencil spreads that imagine the lives of ground-dwelling bees. In this world, seen up close, clover blossoms wave like hands, green plants jostle for sunlight, and grains of pollen soar like tiny, brightly colored balloons. The ground bees--who have friendly, antic expressions and bright red noses--dream and play, and then, "one morning, /one bee,/ this bee// dreamt of someplace different." The insect rides a north-blowing breeze to a pale field under the aurora borealis, where a snow goose stares with a baleful eye and lichens cover low rocks. Subsequent pages offer refrains for the cardinal directions as the bees go where the wind takes them, each encountering a magnificent topography rich with flora and fauna. And when one bee is left alone, she beholds in the local clover an assemblage of creatures and blooms just as rich. Weber's creation testifies to the glory and profusion of the natural world, and to the importance of appreciating one's surroundings. An author's note concludes. Ages 4--8. Agent: Hannah Mann, Writers House. (June)