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What the World Needs Now – Bees!by Cheryl Rosebush, Zuzana Svobodová (Illustrator) PDF, 34 pg. Read: March 4, 2021 |
Was I tempted to just copy what I said about her earlier book, What the World Needs Now – Trees!, and give it a couple of small edits? Yes. And it would’ve been true, but that seems a little on the sketchy side.
What’s What the World Needs Now – Bees! About?
Melly, a young black bear, gives the reader a brief tour of her home area, with a particular focus on the fauna (particularly fruit) in the area, and then teaches the reader about the role that bees play in pollinating the plants. Then there’s a little discussion about what can cause problems among the bee population and some simple things that can be done—even by a young reader/pre-reader—to help.
A Moment of Pedantry
One of the supplemental information boxes includes this:
American black bears are medium-sized ursines that live in forests across North America. You can find them in Alaska, Canada, the United States of America, and even as far south as northern Mexico.
Alaska is part of the U.S. (as a state since 1959, and as a territory for more than 40 years prior to that).
Parents, teachers, caregivers can (and should) easily edit that sentence as they read it to a child, but it still rankles me.
How were the Illustrations?
Svobodová and her cartoonish-balanced with-accurate style are back, and I think better this time out. Melly and her flying friends are wonderfully rendered here.
The illustrations are full of small little touches to keep the attention of the youngest readers as they come back again and again. For example, there was a small chipmunk (I think—maybe a squirrel, I couldn’t see enough of it to tell) poking its head out from a hole in a tree on page 2. I’m not sure I can explain it, but that critter’s existence made the book for me—it’s a tiny little detail that it’d be easy to miss, but you know some eagle-eyed kid is going to focus on that while they’re listening (or, not listening, let’s be honest) to someone read the book to them. It’s a nice, subtle touch.
So, what did I think about What the World Needs Now – Bees!?
Like the art, I liked this a little more than its predecessor. I thought this was a bit more engaging and interesting. Again, it explained some of the current issues without being alarmist and did so in an attractive way, sure to keep the interest of the target audience.
I did wonder if there was a way to spend less time on pollination and more on the bees themselves (not that I have a problem with the pollination material, and it’s one of the bigger reasons we need bees—I just wanted more about the insects (I imagine many kids would agree with me—insects are almost always more interesting than anything else for every kid I’ve known)
Although, honestly, I think I had an easier time sleeping not knowing about the existence of Wallace’s giant bee. 🙂 Sure, they’re in Indonesia, but a bee with a 2.5″ wingspan? No thank you.
This is a good book and a good series, it’s well worth your time and effort.
My thanks to Love Books Group for the invitation to participate in this tour and the materials (including the book) they provided.
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