Bee & Me

by Alison Jay (Artist)

We hear much about the plight of the bumble bee population and its implications for our planet’s future. This beautiful picture book makes the story personal and brings a message of hope. A little girl befriends a bee, which takes her on a journey of discovery and to an action each child can take to aid in conservation. Alison Jay’s original artwork brings the story gently to life, pointing out the sadness of a world without bees.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Nature, Fiction, Environment, Fantasy

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2016

About the author

Alison Jay was born in Hertfordshire, grew up in Derbyshire and studied graphic design in London where she now lives. After graduating she worked in animation for a short while but gradually started to get commissions in illustration. She works in Alkyd a quick drying oil paint on paper and sometimes adds a crackle varnish to give the work an aged appearance. She has worked in all areas of illustration including
advertising ,packaging, editorial and design. Her commission's include a 48 sheet poster for B.T, a TV commercial for Kellogg's corn flakes and has recently illustrated the new baby range of products for Crabtree and Evelyn. She has also illustrated lots of children's books including 'Picture This', 'William and the night train','The Race', 'I
took the moon for a walk', 'The Emperors new clothes, If Kisses were colours, 'ABC Alphabet', an unabridged fully illustrated version of 'Alice's
Adventures in Wonderland',Listen Listen', 'Welcome to the Zoo', 'A Child's first Counting Book', 'Today is the Birthday of the World' and 'Nursery Rhyme Rainbow'. She recently worked with Aardman Animation on the development
of a feature film and is currently working on a version of 'The Nutcracker'.

Her book 'Welcome to the Zoo' which is a wordless visit to a cage less 'animal hotel' has been selected as one of New York's Bank Street's 2009 best
books of the year.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wordless book tells a surreal tale. A girl takes care of a bee and learns about them along the way. She helps it grow and then lets it go saying goodbye. She is sad during the winter. The bee returns in the spring and all is happy again.

I enjoyed the art and as the cover shows, the bee grows big enough the girl takes a ride on the bee. It has the point of taking care of the bees who give us so much. It’s a simple sweet story. I appreciate the art and it is a soft tale.

The kids went through it fast and the nephew could read this on his own. We let him tell us the story and he had a great story. It was much more exciting than my story with more action too. He gave it 4 stars while the niece gave it 2 stars.

[بثينة العيسى · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب مثالي لوقت ممتع وتأملي تقضيه مع طفلك الذي لم يتعلم القراءة بعد.

[Colleen Fauchelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know I am 51 but this book is beautiful and I have been looking at it at work for a year. My husband gave me a book voucher and I decided to use it for this book because I didn't want to miss out on owning it.

There are no words to this story, But the pictures are delightful and it is a beautiful story about a girl and a bee that flys into her home one day and the bee ends up staying. This book brings a smile to my face and isn't that the best excuse to buy the book. :)

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely story about a friendship between a girl and a giant bee. The illustrations are to die for!

[J & J · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book stole the plot to The Bee Movie. There's nothing original here.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful whimsical wordless tale with an important closing note explaining the plight of the dwindling honeybee population and suggests plants that readers can grow to help bee populations.

[Jess Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bee and me is a picture book with no words. Which I loved.
My toddler and I enjoyed looking at the pictures and I enjoyed weaving the story using our imagination, because there are no words there is ample opportunity for discussion about what is going on in the pictures. It brings the child into the story and engages their imagination.
Beautifully illustrated it's one for all kids bookcases.

[Angelina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful pictures and a great story and message! A must!

[Michelle Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute illustrations and easy to follow story. Reminded me of when I was a kid trying to resuscitate the bees that had fallen in our pool.

[Clarissa Unruh · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don’t often rate and review the books I read to my children but this one deserves a review! It is my first ‘wordless book’ and I love it!! These pictures are so full of detail you can imagine and talk about what is happening on the pages forever. I got it at the library and I can’t wait to find more of these to read!

[Beth Voecks · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute and really brings home the importance of bees and how devastating their loss would be to our planet!

The art is fantastic and doesn't need words to tell the story of a girl and the Bee she befriends.

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

There's so much to delight in. A magical friendship with a bee. Examining the stories in the other illustrated apartment windows. Thinking about how each of us has the power to create pollinator pathways....

[Michael Earp · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alison Jay's work is always beautiful! This is no different.

[Michele Knott · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book to share in the spring, but also to go along with your science unit! I was happy to see the end notes that give some factual information to add to the information embedded within the story.

[Jennifer B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice little book about bee awareness.

I have seen that everyone has said this is a picture book without words. The version that I read (Spanish) most definitely had words.

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a weary bee lands on her windowsill, the little girl in Bee & Me decides to help him, rather than attack. Feeding him sugary syrup, she nurses him back to health and then sets him free, only to see him return during a rainstorm. Soon the two are inseparable, and as the bee grows to unexpected sizes, the two have many wonderful adventures together. Then summer comes to an end and they must part. Is it the end of their friendship...?

Intended (according to the dust-jacket flap) to raise awareness about bees and the important role they play in our world, this wordless picture-book is absolutely beautiful! The oil paintings by Alison Jay, whose work I know from various fairy-tale retellings, are luminous, and the narrative engaging. It's particularly important, with wordless picture-books, for the images to tell a story, and in Bee & Me, they certainly do. Recommended to anyone looking for children's books about bees, or wordless picture-books in general.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful wordless book is not only entertaining; it also teaches readers/listeners about the importance of bees in our world. When a lonely girl in the city befriends a bee, the magical, fantastical journey begins. As the story evolves and the bee leaves for the winter, the girl makes friends with a boy in her building and the fun continues in a city changed by the bee. Alison Jay's lush oil painted illustrations enhance the magical quality of the story, but in a note at the end, she clearly explains the need to invite bees to our gardens and cautions children not to touch them. I highly recommend this title for both school and public libraries.

[Kalynda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love wordless books! I really need to start a collection of them. They offer such a different type of reading engagement that you can return to the story again and again, and "read" it a different way each time, based on your new experiences or your creativity. This is one I would want for my collection. Although it is more of a fantasy tale, I appreciate how it starts out with fear of the bee, to seeking more knowledge and understanding, to going on an adventure with the bee and experiencing some of their impact. This would be a good addition as a class read or a center read, really at any time for a bee, flowers, plants, or respecting nature lesson.

[Joseph Ghione · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although there this is a wordless picture book, this one is at the top of the list. I was first introduced to Bee & Me while at one of my special education placements at Lock Haven University. A student with disabilities would come in every morning ecstatic to flip through this book with me. Alison Jay did an amazing job with her colorful and imaginative illustrations that takes you on a wild adventure of what a child saw while she was flying on the back of a bee. The book displays the hardship of bees and exposes that their importance of this world, also making it aware that they could become endangered if we keep living the way we are.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very charming wordless book about a little girl who befriends a bee. She feeds him sugar water and he begin to grow to humongous size. They live in a city and the bee becomes homesick for a field of flowers so the girl hops on his back and off they fly to such a field. It is late fall by this time, so they gather the seeds from the wild flowers and scatter them all across the city when they fly back home. Over the coming seasons, the seeds grow and bloom and turn the city into a beautiful place.

Illustrations are lovely.

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful wordless picture book that talks about the plight of the bees and the sad fact that so much of our world is becoming concrete and buildings instead of green plants. I could see this book being used for the skill of inferring and summarizing because they have to use their own words since the author doesn't supply any but does supply a wonderful story.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wordless book that captures the friendship between a bee and a little girl, then between the little girl and a little boy. This book gives information about how to help bees today. There is lots to look at in the beautiful illustrations. The story is told gently and within a story time you can use this for children to predict what is going to happen next.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wordless picture book that tells us the story of the friendship between a girl and a bee! Some of the pages have several panels of illustrations. It could be a little hard for a younger reader to follow. It would be a good book to read with someone who is unsure about bees. The last page has a little blurb about why bees are so good and how important they are!

[Olivia Robertson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful picture book, which communicates the importance of caring for our environment and looking after our bees. It also conveys a moral message about friendship. Would not hesitate to use this as a stimulus for a class topic!

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Story of a little girl and a bee where the bee visits the little girl and they go on adventures together. The books aims to spread the message of the importance of bees.

[Engel Dreizehn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful if surreal wordless parable on why it's important to be nice to bees and their role in the environment.

[Dna · Rating 5 out of 5]

So freakin adorable!!

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This wordless picture book follows the story of a girl and a bee who flies into her house one day and she finds out how to look after it. It's a lovely story which could encourage children to think about how they can help wildlife, particularly bees which could link to science such as the different plants that attract bees. They could set up a little flower bed at school, I saw this at my SBT1 school.

[Mary Stergioti · Rating 4 out of 5]

Φοβερή εικονογράφηση πολύ ωραία ιστορία, θα ήθελα λίγο παραπάνω κείμενο. Θα μου πεις ότι καλύπτεται από την εικονογράφηση ότι δεν υπάρχει σε κείμενο αλλά και πάλι θα ήθελα κάτι περισσότερο στον γραπτό λόγο.

[O.M.]

The magic of sugar water!