April Pulley Sayre is the award-winning author of dozens of books,
including MEET THE HOWLERS!; TURTLE, TURTLE, WATCH OUT!; and ONE IS
A SNAIL, TEN IS A CRAB, an ALA Notable Book. She lives in South
Bend, Indiana.
Patricia Wynne is a well-known scientific illustrator whose art has
been included in many collections and exhibited around the country.
Her detailed illustrations have appeared in 90 books, including The
Body Book, Tropical Rain Forest, and Hello, Bumblebee Bat, a
Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor Book. Patricia lives in New York
City.
In the spring, a queen bee digs her way out of the ground and flies
off to drink nectar and search for a home for her colony. She
settles into an old mouse nest, makes a waxy cup for storing
nectar, lays eggs, tends them, and hatches them. After going
through the larval stage, the new bees become workers, drones, and
queens. In the fall, the new queens mate with drones before
burrowing underground for the winter. A dual text conveys the main
facts in large-type words, carefully chosen for sound as well as
meaning. In a smaller font, another paragraph on each page or
double-page spread offers related information in greater detail.
Precise ink drawings with watercolor washes illustrate the text
with clarity, simplicity, and skill. An appended spread includes a
circular illustration of the bee's life cycle as well as more facts
about U.S. bees and pollination, suggested activities, tips on
observing bees, and short lists of recommended books and Web sites.
Informative and attractive.
—Booklist
We join a queen bee as she emerges in spring and begins the process
of colony building and reproduction. She carefully chooses a
nesting site, builds her hive, lays eggs, and cares for the drones,
workers, and new queens that hatch. Sayre tells the bee's story in
the main text and provides additional interesting bee facts in
separate areas. The clear, close-up illustrations depict the fuzzy
bees in their farmland habitat filled with colorful flowers, trees,
and leaves, and include enough detail to help young readers learn
bee and hive structures. The choice to focus on the queen as the
central character is understandable from both scientific and
literary perspectives, though it does mean less attention paid to
the equally important workers and drones. Further information about
bees, including tips on careful observation and facts about
pollination, is appended along with a list of recommended books and
websites.
—The Horn Book
Sayre follows the life cycle of a bumblebee queen, as she emerges
from her winter shelter, selects an abandoned mouse nest for a
colony site, busily tends the first generation of eggs and larvae,
then, at summer’s end, dies with her workers and drones, while the
next generation of queens digs in to wait for spring. Throughout,
she inserts additional details in smaller-type rubrics and adds
“More Buzz about Bees” and “Good Bee-Havior,” at the end. Wynne
draws the viewer in to her precisely detailed, close-up natural
scenes by posing queen and offspring looking up from the page to
make eye contact—but she follows the author in steering clear of
anthropomorphic inventions. Capped by a multimedia resource list,
this makes nourishing fare for young observers of nature.
—Kirkus Reviews
Engaging watercolors keep time with a simple, easy-to-read text
describing the life cycle of a bumblebee queen, from her awakening
from winter hibernation to her death in late autumn. Sayre includes
"fact circles" containing extra data on these creatures, a couple
of closing paragraphs on bumblebee/honeybee pollinating skills, and
respectful human behavior toward bees. Gentle, informative, and
appealing, this title is an effective antidote to the edgy world of
"killer" bees.
—School Library Journal
In the spring, a queen bee digs her way out of the ground and flies
off to drink nectar and search for a home for her colony. She
settles into an old mouse nest, makes a waxy cup for storing
nectar, lays eggs, tends them, and hatches them. After going
through the larval stage, the new bees become workers, drones, and
queens. In the fall, the new queens mate with drones before
burrowing underground for the winter. A dual text conveys the main
facts in large-type words, carefully chosen for sound as well as
meaning. In a smaller font, another paragraph on each page or
double-page spread offers related information in greater detail.
Precise ink drawings with watercolor washes illustrate the text
with clarity, simplicity, and skill. An appended spread includes a
circular illustration of the bee's life cycle as well as more facts
about U.S. bees and pollination, suggested activities, tips on
observing bees, and short lists of recommended books and Web sites.
Informative and attractive.
-Booklist
We join a queen bee as she emerges in spring and begins the process
of colony building and reproduction. She carefully chooses a
nesting site, builds her hive, lays eggs, and cares for the drones,
workers, and new queens that hatch. Sayre tells the bee's story in
the main text and provides additional interesting bee facts in
separate areas. The clear, close-up illustrations depict the fuzzy
bees in their farmland habitat filled with colorful flowers, trees,
and leaves, and include enough detail to help young readers learn
bee and hive structures. The choice to focus on the queen as the
central character is understandable from both scientific and
literary perspectives, though it does mean less attention paid to
the equally important workers and drones. Further information about
bees, including tips on careful observation and facts about
pollination, is appended along with a list of recommended books and
websites.
-The Horn Book
Sayre follows the life cycle of a bumblebee queen, as she emerges
from her winter shelter, selects an abandoned mouse nest for a
colony site, busily tends the first generation of eggs and larvae,
then, at summer's end, dies with her workers and drones, while the
next generation of queens digs in to wait for spring. Throughout,
she inserts additional details in smaller-type rubrics and adds
"More Buzz about Bees" and "Good Bee-Havior," at the end. Wynne
draws the viewer in to her precisely detailed, close-up natural
scenes by posing queen and offspring looking up from the page to
make eye contact-but she follows the author in steering clear of
anthropomorphic inventions. Capped by a multimedia resource list,
this makes nourishing fare for young observers of nature.
-Kirkus Reviews
Engaging watercolors keep time with a simple, easy-to-read text
describing the life cycle of a bumblebee queen, from her awakening
from winter hibernation to her death in late autumn. Sayre includes
"fact circles" containing extra data on these creatures, a couple
of closing paragraphs on bumblebee/honeybee pollinating skills, and
respectful human behavior toward bees. Gentle, informative, and
appealing, this title is an effective antidote to the edgy world of
"killer" bees.
-School Library Journal
Ask a Question About this Product More... |