★ 12/09/2019
“Tongues lick./ Antennae touch.” The brief but complex life of a Apis Mellifera—a worker honeybee—is explored with depth in this richly detailed picture book. Fleming uses lyrical language to describe just how jam-packed Apis’s short life is—her jobs include cleaning the nursery, feeding “grub-like larvae,” tending the queen, building comb, food handling, and guarding the hive. “At last, on the twenty-fifth day of her life... she leaps from the nest and... FLIES!” Apis lives only 10 days more: “She has visited thirty-thousand flowers. She has collected enough nectar to make one-twelfth of a teaspoon of honey.” Though “Apis stills,” Fleming renders her humble life a mesmerizing wonder. Rohmann’s realistic oil-on-paper illustrations artfully capture close-up details such as the glisten of transparent wings and the fine hairs covering a bee’s body. An ending schematic identifies bee body parts, while supplemental materials offer more facts and details about helping the insects. Ages 6–9. (Feb.)
★ 01/01/2020
K-Gr 4—Prior to the title page, two full-page close-ups show a honeybee emerging from her wax cell. The free verse poem that runs through the entire book helps readers envision the start of this life cycle. The text and the accompanying illustrations work together masterfully. The vocabulary is precise and razor sharp: each word makes an impact, adding a crucial detail. The language also generates and sustains curiosity. Early on in the narrative, Fleming wonders if the honeybee is ready to fly, but the answer is "not yet." Other jobs come first—cleaning, nursing, queen tending, comb building, food handling, and guarding. The bee finally takes flight "on the twenty-fifth day of her life." It is worth the wait. Rohmann's illustrations make a dramatic transition. The previous oil-on-paper illustrations are amazingly detailed, large, and easy to examine. The warm colors of the hive (brown, black, yellow) show a safe, secure environment. But as Apis Mellifera peers out from the hive, the perspective radically changes, and a four-page gatefold of a sunny meadow with a field of flowers is visible. Readers follow the insect through each of her jobs until her end, where a new honeybee takes her place. It's an impressive cycle. VERDICT This book is nonfiction at its best—a combination of beautifully crafted language and astonishing close-up illustrations. Fleming displays admiration for honeybees and conveys enormous respect for their work.—Myra Zarnowski, City University of New York
★ 2019-10-27
As they did in Giant Squid (2016), Fleming and Rohmann give readers a deep dive into the biology of a creature so alien from humans it's hard to imagine we all live on the same planet.
The long, free-verse poem begins to unfold in the frontmatter when the protagonist emerges from the wax cell that protected her during metamorphosis "into… / a teeming, trembling flurry. / Hummmmm!" Naming her subject Apis for her genus, Fleming describes in meticulous detail many of the myriad roles a worker honeybee plays in the colony, from cell preparation through nursing, queen tending, comb building, nectar receiving, honey curing, guarding, and scouting to, finally, foraging. She maintains narrative tension through artfully deployed delayed gratification, ending each topical spread by hinting that Apis' "new job" might involve "flying?" only to reveal a different nest-bound activity for Apis with a page turn. Rohmann rises to the challenge of a story set mostly in dark, confined quarters and a limited palette of black, brown, and honey yellow with stunning views of Apis and her sisters, each tiny hair and segment lovingly delineated. Neither text nor illustrations anthropomorphize their subject; Apis never complains. But an astonishing double gatefold depicts her finally flying over a field of purple and yellow wildflowers into an endless blue sky, liberating bee, creators, and readers alike. Several pages of backmatter offer further information about honeybees, online resources, and child-appropriate books.
Like its subject, a wonder to behold. (Informational picture book. 5-10)
"a fascinating up-close view of the stages of a honeybee's life. . . . The drama and suspense are positively riveting."—The New York Times
"This stunning monograph lets young readers experience bees up close, with no chance of getting stung. . . . A sweeping gatefold shows Apis in her first flight, and the timely back matter tells us how to help threatened honeybees survive. They are, after all, vital to our survival."—The San Francisco Chronicle
★ "the art and text together convey a holistic view of environment and organism, with excellent pacing through the complete bee life cycle." —The Horn Book, Starred Review
"If there is a child in your life, this is a must share story book. And I think maybe even experienced beekeepers will learn something from this up close and personal story."—Bee Culture Magazine
"Candace Fleming details the fantastic industriousness of Apis mellifera in 'Honeybee', a picture book illustrated by Eric Rohmann with such intensity and accuracy that the squeamish reader may want to look on from a distance while someone else reads aloud."—The Wall Street Journal
★ "Oversized trim and a text artfully attuned to reading aloud work in harness together to rivet listeners as they follow Apis mellifera, nicknamed Apis throughout . . . Rohmann’s much larger than life oil paintings of so eventful a thirty-five-day life leave the audience momentarily bereft at the end of their intense involvement with personalized, but not anthropomorphized, Apis."—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, Starred Review
★ "Glorious illustrations and engaging text combine . . . The vivid oil paint illustrations include minute details and, at times, seem indistinguishable from photographs. The pictures align perfectly with the text, showing the honeybee hard at work at various tasks. . . . this offering will captivate audiences.—Booklist, Starred Review
★ "This book is nonfiction at its best—a combination of beautifully crafted language and astonishing close-up illustrations. Fleming displays admiration for honeybees and conveys enormous respect for their work."—School Library Journal, Starred Review
★ "As they did in Giant Squid (2016), Fleming and Rohmann give readers a deep dive into the biology of a creature so alien from humans it's hard to imagine we all live on the same planet. . . . Fleming describes in meticulous detail many of the myriad roles a worker honeybee plays in the colony . . . Rohmann rises to the challenge of a story mostly set in dark, confined quarters and a limited palette of black, brown, and honey yellow with stunning views of Apis and her sisters, each tiny hair and segment lovingly delineated. . . . Like its subject, a wonder to behold. —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
★ "The brief but complex life of a Apis Mellifera—a worker honeybee—is explored with depth in this richly detailed picture book. . . . Fleming renders her humble life a mesmerizing wonder. Rohmann’s realistic oil-on-paper illustrations artfully capture close-up details such as the glisten of transparent wings and the fine hairs covering a bee’s body."—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
★ "This dazzling picture book includes an essay and additional facts in the back matter, culminating in a phenomenal portrait of a tiny but indispensable component of nature—truly a delightful learning experience."—Shelf Awareness, Starred Review
"This is the bee book we’ve all been waiting for. We just hadn’t met it yet."—A Fuse #8 Production
