BRUNO THE BEEKEEPER

Name: BRUNO THE BEEKEEPER
Author: Aneta Františka Holasová
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1461-1

A HONEY PRIMER

by Aneta Františka Holasová ; illustrated by Aneta Františka Holasová ; translated by Andrew Lass ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 23, 2021

Utterly bee-guiling.

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Bruno the bear keeps bees in this Czech import.

Holasová weaves Bruno’s activities with his bees in and around a bounty of information about honeybees and their keeping. Honey-and-sepia illustrations introduce worker, drone, and queen; their respective metamorphoses and anatomies; the structure of a managed beehive; and a beekeeper’s protective clothing (though however “spiffy Bruno looks” in it, he mostly relies on his thick pelt). The narrative then begins with Bruno’s late-fall activities: storing unnecessary hive parts for the winter, feeding the bees, and readying equipment for the spring. Spring brings blossoms, first inspections, and “supering up”—placing additional boxes for honey production on the hives; in summer comes the honey harvest. There is a surprising amount of technical information conveyed in this gentle book; children familiar with beekeeping will recognize the activities depicted, and explanations are both accurate and friendly to children who are not. There is humor in the near-constant cloud of bees around Bruno’s head as he works, and beauty as well in lovely botanical watercolors. The whimsical depiction of adult bee faces on eggs and developing larvae is both inaccurate and a little weird; the introduction of bee parasites with no mention of routine treatment and prevention is a gap. Though loosely arranged according to the calendar, it is essentially a nonlinear narrative, and readers can dip in and out, making it more the primer of the subtitle than a read-aloud.

Utterly bee-guiling. (index) (Nonfiction. 7-10)

Pub Date: March 23, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-5362-1461-1

Page Count: 80

Publisher: Candlewick

Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

- PERSPECTIVES
In Praise of the Honeybee

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1001 BEES

by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 18, 2021

Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.

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This book is buzzing with trivia.

Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.

Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)

Pub Date: May 18, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Thames & Hudson

Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

- BOOK REVIEW
1001 BIRDS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak

- BOOK REVIEW
1001 ANTS
by Joanna Rzezak ; illustrated by Joanna Rzezak

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I AM GRAVITY

by Henry Herz ; illustrated by Mercè López ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2024

An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe.

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An introduction to gravity.

The book opens with the most iconic demonstration of gravity, an apple falling. Throughout, Herz tackles both huge concepts—how gravity compresses atoms to form stars and how black holes pull all kinds of matter toward them—and more concrete ones: how gravity allows you to jump up and then come back down to the ground. Gravity narrates in spare yet lyrical verse, explaining how it creates planets and compresses atoms and comparing itself to a hug. “My embrace is tight enough that you don’t float like a balloon, but loose enough that you can run and leap and play.” Gravity personifies itself at times: “I am stubborn—the bigger things are, the harder I pull.” Beautiful illustrations depict swirling planets and black holes alongside racially diverse children playing, running, and jumping, all thanks to gravity. Thorough backmatter discusses how Sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity and explains Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. While at times Herz’s explanations may be a bit too technical for some readers, burgeoning scientists will be drawn in.

An in-depth and visually pleasing look at one of the most fundamental forces in the universe. (Informational picture book. 7-9)