A sweet reminder that BEE-lieving in oneself doesn’t necessarily mean coming in first place.
A honeybee learns that sometimes lending a helping hand matters more than winning a race.
Buzzy Bee, who lives in a hive on Nectar Drive with his family, eagerly awaits the annual bee race. But he feels intimidated—previous family members have won the race in the past, and though he’s trained hard, he isn’t sure he can measure up. His parents assure him that he’s improving slowly and urge him to be patient. Their encouragement works, and he performs well during the race. His best friend, Bumble Bee, takes the lead; Buzzy isn’t far behind. But when Bumble takes a tumble as both approach the finish line, Buzzy must make a hard choice—win or help a pal? The chunky, child-friendly artwork features heavily anthropomorphized bees with yellow bodies and brown stripes; some sport hats, bows, or big googly glasses, effectively capturing their different personalities. Sometimes-strained rhyming lines and delightfully amusing bee-related puns add to this relatable story’s appeal, helping the positive message about friendship and doing the right thing go down smoothly. Mama and Daddy Bee tell Buzzy that each day offers a fresh opportunity to try again, even when things don’t go as expected—a message that will encourage resilience and steer readers away from a focus on winning at all costs.
A sweet reminder that BEE-lieving in oneself doesn’t necessarily mean coming in first place. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: Feb. 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780593624463
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Flamingo Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2024
Hee haw.
The print version of a knee-slapping cumulative ditty.
In the song, Smith meets a donkey on the road. It is three-legged, and so a “wonky donkey” that, on further examination, has but one eye and so is a “winky wonky donkey” with a taste for country music and therefore a “honky-tonky winky wonky donkey,” and so on to a final characterization as a “spunky hanky-panky cranky stinky-dinky lanky honky-tonky winky wonky donkey.” A free musical recording (of this version, anyway—the author’s website hints at an adults-only version of the song) is available from the publisher and elsewhere online. Even though the book has no included soundtrack, the sly, high-spirited, eye patch–sporting donkey that grins, winks, farts, and clumps its way through the song on a prosthetic metal hoof in Cowley’s informal watercolors supplies comical visual flourishes for the silly wordplay. Look for ready guffaws from young audiences, whether read or sung, though those attuned to disability stereotypes may find themselves wincing instead or as well.
Hee haw. (Picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-545-26124-1
Page Count: 26
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Dec. 28, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor
Having surveyed worms, spiders, flies, and head lice, Gravel continues her Disgusting Critters series with a quick hop through toad fact and fancy.
The facts are briefly presented in a hand-lettered–style typeface frequently interrupted by visually emphatic interjections (“TOXIN,” “PREY,” “EWWW!”). These are, as usual, paired to simply drawn cartoons with comments and punch lines in dialogue balloons. After casting glances at the common South American ancestor of frogs and toads, and at such exotic species as the Emei mustache toad (“Hey ladies!”), Gravel focuses on the common toad, Bufo bufo. Using feminine pronouns throughout, she describes diet and egg-laying, defense mechanisms, “warts,” development from tadpole to adult, and of course how toads shed and eat their skins. Noting that global warming and habitat destruction have rendered some species endangered or extinct, she closes with a plea and, harking back to those South American origins, an image of an outsized toad, arm in arm with a dark-skinned lad (in a track suit), waving goodbye: “Hasta la vista!”
A light dose of natural history, with occasional “EWWW!” for flavor . (Informational picture book. 5-7)Pub Date: July 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77049-667-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: April 12, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2016
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