Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera written by Candace Fleming and illustrated by Eric Rohmann was released February 4, 2020 by Neal Porter Books. This book won the Robert F. Sibert Informational Book Medal and was an honor book for the Orbis Pictus award in 2021. These are the two most prestigious awards for youth non-fiction. The publisher recommends the book for ages six to nine. Apis’s story starts from the very first page before a title or copyright page can get in her way with “One summer morning deep in the nest.” The story has very detailed illustrations that try to portray what the bees look like in a realistic and approachable manner. Once Apis (Apis mellifera is the scientific name for honeybees, and our protagonist is called Apis throughout the book) is out of her cell, we see the title page, and then dive back into the story. The story is told in free verse lines of poetry. As she develops and grows the text takes us through her different jobs and keeps asking if she’ll be flying, a question many students would likely wonder too, but she goes through several initial jobs and days before getting to flying. The organization follows her life chronologically from its beginning to its end. I was a bit surprised that the book ends with Apis’s cycle ending and another new baby bee coming into the world to start their journey. While I know a bee’s life cycle is not a long one, a lot of the picture books when I was a child avoided talking about death. Also, if I’m being honest, I had gotten slightly attached to Apis and her story and was sad to see her story close. I think it’s helpful to know this is included up front to be ready for possible questions or reactions. The book handles the topic very well I think, though I could see a kid who recently lost someone being more impacted.
This book is a strong purchase for elementary and public libraries. The book follows a fictional character and has some plot elements while giving a lot of information and a great look into what a bee’s life is like covering their different roles, body parts, and details of the hive. Some intermediate schools (5th and 6th grades) in my area have started beehives, so this could also be a good fit for them as well. Readers who enjoy animal books, are curious about insect life cycles, and/or are concerned about the environment or conservation efforts would be interested in this title. This book would be a great starting point to launch into pollination, how humans can effect species ability to thrive, the impact of bees, and the conservation of bees or other animals. The back includes a diagram of the bee with its body parts labeled. I’ve seen my first grader practicing this school in her school, so it could also be used for an exercise in that or animal research. The back also includes some ideas to help honeybees and some additional facts with a list of websites and books to close out. The page for the book on the publisher’s site has a link to a podcast episode where “Holiday House General Manager Derek Stordahl talks to Author Candace Fleming and Illustrator Eric Rohmann about their highly acclaimed book HONEYBEE. From demystifying bees through a single Honeybee’s life, to painting the prairie from a bee’s point of view, this duo talks about the importance of the Honeybee and how this closer look creates more empathy and interest in helping save the bees,” as stated on the Apple Podcasts link to the episode. (The publisher’s page has links to other podcast platforms for the episode.) You can also find a STEM lesson plan on the publisher’s page too for the book. Still in need of more bee resources? This site has an Inside the Buzz resource for kids and lots of links on the page. Bumblebee Conservation Trust has a wide variety of activities broken up by age range.
2 Comments
Abi Avery
10/16/2021 10:02:07 am
JoyAnn, I'm glad you reviewed this book! It's one of my favorites that we acquired last year. The illustrations are so gorgeous, and I love any book that has bees being shown in a positive light! Good choice!
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Stacy
11/15/2021 08:26:11 pm
Hi JoyAnn,
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