A gentle story that teaches about beekeeping and the habits of bees.

This is a beautifully illustrated book written by Lester L. Laminack and illustrated by Jim LaMarche. It is a sweet story of a little boy who wants to help his aunt take care of her bees as well as learn how to bee speak. The text is quite lyrical and the story is told in a way that the reader of listener will be able to learn about bees, how they help humans and plants as well as the importance of protecting them. The author includes a website in the note at the end to learn more about honeybees. I can see this book being used in a late primary/early junior classroom when learning about bees, plants and pollination as well as protecting species. It is also just a nice story to read for enjoyment. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley. ( )

Henry visits his Aunt Lila and wants to be involved with the bees. He wants to be involved in the beekeeping process so he is given a suit to wear. He dances to attract the bees to flowers, but accidentally spills some of the attractant on his suit and is covered in bees. Aunt Lila comes to the rescue and the bees are taken to the hive. Henry is then dubbed the King of Bees. I would recommend this for any collection for people interested in the basics of beekeeping. The author does a great job of describing the basic facts of beekeeping. ( )