How Bees Be

by Alison Boyle, Laura Hambleton

When Queen Bee takes Little Bee under her wing, Little Bee learns that being a big bee involves much more than play.

28 pages, Paperback

First published November 15, 1999

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short story about a little bee who thinks that she is all grown up. Because she thinks she is grown up she decides that she is going to do whatever she wants. When she is woken up by another bee she decides that she is not going to get up until she is ready to do so. As she is laying in her bed she has various other bees come into her room to try and wake her. The first bee tries to get her to come to work however she refuses. The second bee comes to tell her that it is time for her to have her breakfast which she also refuses. The third bee tries to get her out of bed to collect pollen from the flowers outside but the little bee refuses once more. Because little bee feels that she is so grown up she replies to all of the bees that she will do their requests when she is ready. Little bee then goes to visit the queen bee who takes her under her wing and shows her what it is really like to be a grown up. Queen bee shows her all the different jobs that grown up bees have to do such as making sure they collect pollen from the best flowers and showing her the factories they work where they make honey. In the end little bee has a better understanding of what it is really like to be a grown up bee and understands that there are many responsibilities that come with growing up.

I think that this book would be a good for reading to children in reception and nursery. The book has lovely bright illustrations throughout which also made reading it enjoyable as it adds to the imagination. This story may be good to read as an introduction to learning about different insects and what some of their roles are. In this case learning that bees produce honey and how they produce it.