THE DANCE OF THE BEES

Honeybees (and a little light magic) unite three generations through poetry.

As a young unnamed girl and her grandmother walk through the Japanese countryside, the older woman shares her knowledge of these and other pollinators and their role in the world’s food web. The lessons continue but then are lost to time until the girl returns to the area many years later, causing her memories of that summer to return. Walking with her own child, they follow a bee that leads them to a cairn, beneath which they find her grandmother’s notebook with haiku from that last visit. The story, soft and methodical, is mirrored in the pale collage illustrations made from cut paper and watercolors. Each illustration includes one of the haiku poems printed vertically, perhaps conceived by the grandmother in that moment and written shortly after. Readers will learn a few rudimentary facts about bees, but caregivers and educators should be ready to research questions that the story raises. The illustrations may be too subtle for large storytimes, but the text flows nicely aloud for lap reads. The backmatter discusses the history and creative process of writing a haiku, which may inspire proactive caregivers to plan a weekend poetry project. The grandmother and protagonist have pale skin and straight black hair, and the protagonist’s son is depicted with straight red hair.

Soft and sweet.