Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera

Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera
By Candace Fleming
Illustrated by Eric Rohmann
New York: Holiday House, 2019. Informational picture book.

The life cycle of a honeybee may not seem like new ground for an author/illustrator to cover - there are hundreds of great informational books about this very topic. Yet, Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann are both able to breathe new life into a familiar subject - casting the humble worker bee in an intimate new life. Fleming manages to build suspense (in an informational book!), teasing readers with all the things our worker bee, "Apis," needs to do before she can do the thing we know bees do -- fly! Rohmann matches the suspenseful tone with incredibly close-up, full page illustrations that follow Apis from her beginnings in the dark, warm hive until she finally emerges into a brilliant blue sky. A larger-than-life honey bee peeking into an open sky opens onto a full, double-page spread as Apis takes her first flight. A little bit of drama, some impeccably researched bee-facts, and lush illustrations make for a stunning bee-read.

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