Bumblebee Queen

by April Pulley Sayre, Patricia Wynne (Editor)

A bumblebee queen only lives one year, but in that short time she can create colonies of hundreds of bees. Follow one queen as she finds a nest, gathers nectar, lays eggs, and tends her colony through spring, summer, and fall. Awards: A Junior Library Guild Selection; Bank Street College of Education's Best Books of the Year; John Burroughs List of Nature Books for Young Readers; Learning Teachers' Choice Award; South Carolina Picture Book Award nominee

Genres: Picture Books, Science, Nonfiction, Nature, Animals, Childrens, Juvenile

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

April Pulley Sayre was an award-winning children’s book author of over 55 natural history books for children and adults. Her read-aloud nonfiction books, known for their lyricism and scientific precision, have been translated into French, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. She is best known for pioneering literary ways to immerse young readers in natural events via creative storytelling and unusual perspectives.

Reviews

[Arminzerella · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The Bumblebee Queen” describes the life cycle of the bumblebee – beginning with the queen, who emerges in the spring to begin raising a new colony of bumblebees. Unlike honeybees, bumblebee workers and drones die in the fall/winter and only the new queens survive to carry on the next generation (hibernating underground). Bumblebee queens must do all of the work of the hive – finding a nest site, creating wax cups for eggs and larvae, and collecting food for the developing brood. Newly hatched workers gradually take on more of these responsibilities, allowing the queen to focus her energy on laying more eggs. This easy reader picture book has accessible language (enhanced with additional facts that parents can share with younger readers) and illustrations. Fascinating – I learned a lot!

[Lauren Innes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
This informational story follows the life of a bumblebee queen; beginning from the time she emerges from the spring ground. Sprinkled throughout the story of the bumblebee queen are various facts regarding bumblebees, which are usual in knowing, as each fact relates somewhat to what is currently taking place in the life of the bumblebee queen. Nonetheless, the majority of the book narrows in on following the bumblebee queen. When she leaves the spring ground, her instincts tell her to go the perfect place to build her colony. Once the ideal location is found, she goes out in search of fresh flowers to drink nectar and gather pollen. From there, she creates her honeycomb, from some of her collected pollen. It is here that she lays her eggs. Her larvae eat pollen and grow until they are old enough to spin their own cocoons. 10 days later, the queen bee chews the cocoons open to help her baby birds be born. The queen continues to lay more eggs, and her colony becomes bigger and bigger. Each of the bees in the colony takes on a special job. Some become workers, others drones, and some will even become queen bees someday.
When fall comes, the bees that took on the role as drones go around to nearby fields and sprinkle special bee perfume. This attracts the new queens to follow the scent they’ve laid. The new queens and the drones mate. After drinking up some nectar, the new queens have to dig down in the ground to wait for springtime to come again. As for the old queens, ‘they will not see next spring, but their female offspring will, as they live out their terms as queen bees, building colonies of their own.’

Response:
I listened and watched this story unfold via e-format on tumblebooks.com, and I found it to be a very enjoyable and engaging experience. On tumblebooks, readers had to maintain an active participant in the story even though there was someone narrating it, because after each page’s completion, the reader had to click over to the next page, simulating the turning of a page in a print-format book. I found this aspect to be a strong one, and found that it would be particularly useful for beginning or learning-to-readers, because they are encouraged to follow along with the narrator in reading the story, so they know when to turn the page. Of course, there existed the option to click to the next page without having to wait for the narrator to finish reading, but I still found the feature overall to be useful and effective. On another note, I really liked the animated illustrations, particularly in the very beginning when the queen bee was shown buzzing around and searching for the perfect place to build her colony. I also really liked the aspect of the story that included various bee facts that were dusted in between the actual queen bee storyline. For myself, and for older readers, I think these additional facts kept my attention and gave me more useful informational knowledge about bees. Some examples of the included factual tid-bits included: “Bumblebees rarely sting, but they will sting in defense, and will sting more than once,” and, “ bumblebees nest in the ground or in sheltered, mossy, grassy places.” Additionally, the entire storyline as a whole that chronicled the short but important life of a queen bee was entirely factual and portrayed very realistically in the texts and illustrations. Furthermore, this book reminded me in a way of the 2007 Bee Movie film, because of the kid-friendly way that the life of bees was presented. Though I think this book provided more reliable information and stayed more true to the truth, rather than how the movie embraced the cartoon bee characters and such. Moreover, I liked this book because it gave readers the chance to see bees in another light than we may view than in the real world. I am not a fan of bugs, insects, or other critters, especially bees. As a child, I was always afraid of bee because of the way their buzzing sound almost warns of impending zoom, and how just the thought of having a bee sting sounds awful. Perhaps if I would have been exposed to books like this one that show what bees do and how harmless they are to people unless you put then on the defensive or bother them, I would have been able to conquer my fear of bees a little sooner, and been a little more educated about them. With all of this in mind, I rate this award-winning book 5 stars as it is entertaining, educational, and due to this online version, interactive and engaging as well.

Classroom Connection:
One science classroom connection for this book would be to continue to expand students’ knowledge regarding bees by having then conduct additional research. Nonetheless, one specific lesson relating to this was found on http://sciencewithme.com/learn-about-.... There is a visual representation of this project on the website, but this activity mainly consists of having students draw large-scale bee on a piece of paper, and then labeling the various body part of the bee, from the antennae to the stinger. I would deem this activity to be more appropriate for younger students, perhaps in k-2. For older students, perhaps 2-4, students could make a hexagon-shaped booklet, (like the hexagon shapes present in bee hives) as suggested on http://www.bookmakingwithkids.com/?ca..., with each hexagon piece dedicate to a different stage in the bee’s life cycle. Each stage would be represented with a picture a brief description. Either activity mentioned would provide supplemental opportunities that connect with this book and expand students’ knowledge of these very important insects.

Text Complexity:
This book’s reported GLE as per scholastic.com is 3.4. Its guided reading level is F and its lexile measure is 670. It is intended to interest a k-2 audience. The guided reading level of F for this book indicates that students should be able to read this book independently by the end of 1st grade- beginning of 2nd, depending on the individual student. I think the text in this book is relatively simple and would be appropriate for this age range and beginning readers. I would highly recommend all students who are reading this book to engage in the experience I did by reading this book electronically on tumblebooks, because its narration would be useful and beneficial for beginning readers, and those who are still learning to read could follow along as the narrator reads along. Despite the intended interest level for this book being k-2, I would also think this book could be incorporated into an introductory lesson for bees for slightly older children, perhaps 3rd or 4th graders, though it wouldn’t be appropriate for challenging them with vocabulary or expanding their comprehension skills, considering its reported levels are below those recommended for the 3rd and 4th grade levels.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful watercolor illustrations, simple but interesting enough text about the lifecycle of a bumblebee, perfect for Preschoolers. Even my 8 yo enjoyed it.

[Sunday · Rating 4 out of 5]

After hibernating underground for the winter, the bumblebee queen seeks nectar and a location for a hive. Then she goes about creating storage for food, laying eggs, bringing food to the larva, and laying more eggs until worker bees are born to help her. Frequently texts about bees only describe the queen’s work laying eggs, but Sayre’s lyrical text and Wynne’s informative illustrations add depth to our understanding of this bee’s role in the life of the colony.

Great for reading aloud as part of an integrated unit on the life cycle of bees and environmental issues that impact bees...and, as a result, people.

[Sandie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very nice book....my five year old really liked it. It was very factual and interesting with good artwork and told in a simple way so as not to lose the child's attention. I learned a couple of things about bee's myself from this book. I would recommend it for lots of reasons....for kids who are scared of bee's, for fun or for a parent who home school's to use as a prop in a science lesson for young children. Really well done.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple and colorful book about bumblebees and the delicious honey they make. It is an interesting, but not overly detailed story and is accompanied by nicely drawn illustrations. Our girls enjoyed watching this book read aloud on the "Tumblebooks" online audiobook site (www.tumblebooks.com). We've read this one a couple of times.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wynne’s narrative follows a queen bee as she goes throughout her tasks—finding a nest, finding nectar, laying eggs, and reigning over her colony. The accompany illustrations are bright and have much textual detail that thoroughly reinforce the concepts introduced in the text. Appropriate for a science unit or individual student research.

[Becca · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a cute way to learn about bees. If doing a unit on bees, this would be a great starter book. It is for all ages, and there are fun facts on each few pages about the life of bees. There are some difficult words, so I would recommend reading to younger children. Good informational book.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice nonfiction text about bees. It's written to be comprehended by a primary audience, and is chock full of great facts that would keep even the marginally interested audience focused. It's well done.

[Shubhi]

I found an online animated version of this book, which was really good. I like the simple illustrations that are used. It is definitely a good way to teach children about bees because it is interesting in a story-like format.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great informational text, The Bumblebee Queen follows the life of a bumblebee queen and is an excellent way to teach about the life cycle of bumblebees. It shows how queens start belowground and alone, then slowly gather nectar, lay eggs, and hatch drones, workers, and other queens.

[Cathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun informative early reader. Nice illustrations.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really great children's non-fiction!!! We've read a lot if bee books and we all learned things we never knew before. Really excellent!!! Will definitely see what else is out there by this author.

[Lynn Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful story about honeybees. Fabulous illustrations.

[Charlie Moses · Rating 3 out of 5]

Child's picture book. The life of a bumblebee queen and its colony are explained and beautifully illustrated. A good choice for a child who is fascinated by bugs and/or nature.

[Amber S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summary: Readers will learn about the busy lives of bumblebees. The Bumblebee Queen informs its readers through beautiful text and detailed illustrations about the life cycle, jobs, and living quarters of bumblebees. The readers will also gain even more information with the facts provided at the end of the book.

Review: I really enjoyed the beautiful and detailed illustrations that are presented in this book. It was an engaging and wonderful book about the lives of bumblebees. I was amazed by the information that was shared, and it increased my appreciation of bumblebees.

Connect/Pair with: https://pestworldforkids.org/pest-gui... (website offers information on all kinds of different bees); Bee: A Peek Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup: Explore My World: Honey Bees by Jill Esbaum (National Geographic Kids); Bees: A Honeyed History by Piotr Socha

Delicious Quote/Use: The quote I chose models using details to inform the reader about where the bumblebee queen would live. The quote also uses the exclamation point to indicate an interesting fact- "Bumblebees nest in the ground or in sheltered, mossy, grassy places such as old mouse nests or abandoned birdhouses. Queens have even nested in teapots!"

[Faith Walton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book about the life cycle of bees. It starts in the winter and follows the queen bee through the year from laying eggs, to producing honey, to mating with drones, to her eventual death from cold. It incorporates different terms for bees, and teaches how things like honey is made. It has more info and websites to visit in the back.

I love this book. The illustrations are very pretty! I might be biased because I love bees, but they’re a good blend of realistic drawings, and kid friendly colors. The terminology that kids would not know is very easy to understand, and I think kids would be able to get it quite easily. There’s little bee facts on every page which I think is so cute.

I would definitely use this in my classroom to teach about bees. It’s a good book for the younger kids, and I think they would like the drawings too! I would also use an activity, like letting the kids pretend to be bees, to get them engaged!

[Tammy Manns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Informational/Non-Fiction
Grade: Primary/Middle Grades (2-6)

This is a very informative book about the life of Bumblebees. Did you know there are over 250 different species? Wow! The book is written in two different styles throughout the story. The story itself is Primary (2nd to 3rd grade) but the additional information would be a great reference tool for Middle grades. The additional information includes websites for more information and more books to read on Bees. Definitely a book for the classroom!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Simple text and bright, vivid illustrations describe the life of a bumblebee queen from when she wakes in the spring through when she dies in the fall and her daughters mate with the drones and then bury themselves to sleep until the next spring. Great for kids interested in insects, life cycles, or as a group read aloud.

[Mely · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a wonderful book to supplement a bee unit. Easy to read and understand and even I learned a few things. Nicely illustrated. I also enjoyed the small tidbit of bonus information at the end. My 5 year old learned so much from this book alone.

[Tori Rumschlag · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bumblebee Queen by April Pulley Sayre is full of spare, easy-to-understand prose, realistically drawn illustrations, and peppered with factoids about bees. The focus is on the life cycle of the queen bee, who the entire hive revolves around.

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Joleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well written and beautifully illustrated.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

A colorfully illustrated nonfiction book describing the life cycle of a bumblebee. Easy to read text, attention-grabbing pictures. This would be great for an early reader book club.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sayre does a wonderful job of presenting the life of a bumblebee queen in an engaging fashion for young children.

[Pamela Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating look at the life cycle of a bumblebee queen, who only lives one year. Great read-aloud for young students to understand that everything has a place in our world.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had to order this one to add to my bee book collection.

[Mother Goose Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love April Pulley Sayer’s non fiction books. The Bumblebee Queen is a thorough look at the life of a bumblebee, told in a narrative way. Beautiful, double page spreads fill the book with bumblebee artwork. This is the perfect read aloud to share when learning about bees. Highly recommended.

[Jo Oehrlein · Rating 4 out of 5]

The life cycle of a bumble bee queen from spring and the formation of a new colony to death in the winter.