May 1, 2002
K-Gr 3-Youngsters won't gain much knowledge about this subject from this title and may even acquire some misinformation. The sentences are short and the vocabulary is basic. Leonard's illustrations are colorful and active; many pages are covered with honeybees at work. The information, however, is not always complete. Early in the book, readers learn that honeybees gather nectar and pollen and take them back to the hive, but they don't learn about what happens to that food until many pages later. There is no mention either of pollination or of how long it takes a larva to become a honeybee. Some oversimplifications can lead to misconceptions. Not all beekeepers keep bees to sell their honey and wax, and how do we know that these insects "shiver" in winter? The book mentions that bees rest throughout the winter but since their life span is only a few months, most won't live through the season. Readers will be challenged by the text of Deborah Heiligman's Honeybees (National Geographic, 2002), but they will come away from that book better informed about these creatures.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC
Copyright 2002 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
July 1, 2002
In an informative if cursory text, readers learn about the habits of honeybees throughout the year. Large, generic illustrations show bees gathering pollen, building a hive, feeding larva, communicating, and protecting their honey from predators. This is an adequate nonfiction choice for newly independent readers.
(Copyright 2002 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)