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Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book
Fans of Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book can now fly along with Bee on her very busy day!
Through a hole in the book's cover, a bee is buzzing inside a flower. Peek into this bright and lively book and discover the big ways this little insect contributes to the beauty of the environment, from pollinating colorful flowers to buzzing about the bright and beautiful meadow.
With clever peekaboo holes throughout, each page reveals new flowers and plants, plus a look inside a beehive as the bees work together to help a plants grow.
Children will love seeing the details of a bee's active day as each page is turned, and along the way they'll learn about ways in which bees and plants works together to produce a healthy, beautiful environment.
And look for its companion books, Tree, Moon, and The Twelve Days of Christmas, in the same Peek-Through Picture Book series!
"Ample opportunities can be found to linger over the vibrant multimedia collages of meadows, woods, hedgerows, streams, and, most of all, the flowers bursting from the pages. An inviting introduction to the busy lives of honeybees."--Booklist
Through a hole in the book's cover, a bee is buzzing inside a flower. Peek into this bright and lively book and discover the big ways this little insect contributes to the beauty of the environment, from pollinating colorful flowers to buzzing about the bright and beautiful meadow.
With clever peekaboo holes throughout, each page reveals new flowers and plants, plus a look inside a beehive as the bees work together to help a plants grow.
Children will love seeing the details of a bee's active day as each page is turned, and along the way they'll learn about ways in which bees and plants works together to produce a healthy, beautiful environment.
And look for its companion books, Tree, Moon, and The Twelve Days of Christmas, in the same Peek-Through Picture Book series!
"Ample opportunities can be found to linger over the vibrant multimedia collages of meadows, woods, hedgerows, streams, and, most of all, the flowers bursting from the pages. An inviting introduction to the busy lives of honeybees."--Booklist
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2017
2 people are currently reading
432 people want to read
About the author
Britta Teckentrup
244 books241 followersBritta Teckentrup was born in Germany and moved to England in 1988. She is the author and illustrator of many books for children. She now lives in Berlin with her husband and young son.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews
April 2, 2018
This book is beautiful. The art is stunning and I love that it is about bees! The text was written by Patricia Hegarty and it rhymes. The star of the show here is the bee and all the work it does to help make our world so beautiful. It's an ode to the bee. This book made me happy.
My nephew enjoyed this book. He wanted to turn all the pages before it was read to see the Peek-throughs. It was cute. My Niece enjoyed all the flowers in the book.
I want to see Britta's book Trees now. This was wonderful.
My nephew enjoyed this book. He wanted to turn all the pages before it was read to see the Peek-throughs. It was cute. My Niece enjoyed all the flowers in the book.
I want to see Britta's book Trees now. This was wonderful.
November 29, 2019
5 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝 🐝
A lovely, sweet, rhyming, and beautifully illustrated book to share the wonder and purpose of bees in our world with your little ones.
In the same series and format you can also find the equally satisfying:
Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book—where an owl in a tree takes you through the seasons
&
Moon: A Peek-Through Picture Book—which uncovers nature through the night and perfect for bedtime reading. This one was my favorite.
A lovely, sweet, rhyming, and beautifully illustrated book to share the wonder and purpose of bees in our world with your little ones.
In the same series and format you can also find the equally satisfying:
Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book—where an owl in a tree takes you through the seasons&
Moon: A Peek-Through Picture Book—which uncovers nature through the night and perfect for bedtime reading. This one was my favorite. 
September 22, 2017
Absolutely beautiful book, in both the sense of the words and the illustrations. Lovely to read aloud, with rhyming and short sentences. A really clear and simple introduction to the bee's crucial role in the pollination cycle. At the same time, the painstakingly detailed illustrations on each page are so attentive, and you could probably study one page for a whole lesson. With this in mind I would recommend it for any primary age group, from Early Years (as a simple way to discuss nature and the bee's role) to Year 6 (by discussing pollination and climate change and the importance of bees). This book also lends itself to a whole host of cross-curricula learning opportunities such as:
English: The wonder of the written word. Writing your own story about important animals and insects. Writing from the perspective of the bees/flowers. The use of rhyme within the book and how we can apply that in our own writing.
Maths: The geographical shape of most of the illustrations, as well as using the pictures in counting activities.
Science: Introduction to pollination. Introduction to food chains. Introduction to mini-beasts and insects. Active fieldwork opportunities to plant flowers and introduce 'bee-hotels' as well as examining other insects in their natural habitat.
Art: Creating your own interpretation of the book, copying key elements of design form the book (cut-out parts, bright colours etc.), discussions about use of colour and detail within the book and why this might have been done.
PSHE: Implications for the wider environment, social justice, climate change, what we can do to help insects and bees.
Overall, a really lovely book, appealing to all ages which can be applied to most subject areas.
English: The wonder of the written word. Writing your own story about important animals and insects. Writing from the perspective of the bees/flowers. The use of rhyme within the book and how we can apply that in our own writing.
Maths: The geographical shape of most of the illustrations, as well as using the pictures in counting activities.
Science: Introduction to pollination. Introduction to food chains. Introduction to mini-beasts and insects. Active fieldwork opportunities to plant flowers and introduce 'bee-hotels' as well as examining other insects in their natural habitat.
Art: Creating your own interpretation of the book, copying key elements of design form the book (cut-out parts, bright colours etc.), discussions about use of colour and detail within the book and why this might have been done.
PSHE: Implications for the wider environment, social justice, climate change, what we can do to help insects and bees.
Overall, a really lovely book, appealing to all ages which can be applied to most subject areas.
November 23, 2025
a delightfully illustrated rhyming books that explains the importance of bees
July 9, 2020
This is beautiful! I love the illustrations and the poetic text. Does a lovely job of explaining the importance of bees and pollination in a cursory way. If you want something more in-depth about the science or the critical need to "save the bees" (i.e., think about what you are spraying in your yard or what farmers might be spraying on the food you eat and how it might be harming the bees) you will need to look elsewhere but this would be a beautiful compliment to a more fact-based unit about bees. My four-year-old loved this and we are going to look for more in the series. (The peek-through aspect is so fun!)
January 14, 2017
Just as impressive and beautiful in its own way as the earlier Tree: A Peek-Through Picture Book, this handsome volume arrives just at the right time as bees have been added to the Endangered Species List in the United States for the first time. For anyone not already charmed by bees as they buzz through the air or not aware of the work they do in pollinating flowers, this book provides vivid examples and a reminder for the rest of us about just how important this species is. Each page is drenched in rich colors that seem to burst forth upon readers' eyes. Rhyming text takes them through the journey of one bee as she moves from one spot to another, and then spreads the word to the rest of the hive that she's found a great place to harvest what they need for their food collection. The hexagonal die-cut shapes allow readers to take a peek at the lone bee as she labors and then reveal the others as they join her. Even from the cover which shows a bee in the midst of a flower in a die-cut pays homage to the fact that the cells in the bees' hives are hexagonal in shape. Indeed, words hardly do justice to the lovely images in this picture book. Undoubtedly, science teachers will want to add it to their collection so that it can provide a starting place for various lessons. Perhaps one of their young charges can figure out some ways to make sure that bees can bounce back and thrive in the world around us. Surely, life as we know it depends on them for many different reasons.
February 12, 2022
Ape Una piccola meraviglia della natura è un libro illustrato per bambini che narra, con le sue meravigliose rime, la storia di Ape che viaggia di fiore in fiore tra gli alberi del frutteto, scoprendo tutte le meraviglie e i segreti della natura. https://ilmondodichri.com/ape-una-pic...
September 11, 2017
The "Tree" peek though book works very well, but something is missing here for me. The last few pages are effective, showing the bees flying around, but what is the point of having a peek-through without purpose? Many of the cutouts are not placed within interesting or meaningful images.
September 23, 2016
Britta Teckentrup's books are absolutely gorgeous. Cannot wait to see a finished copy of this, rather than just the illustrations and text!
February 6, 2017
Yes, Britta, yes!
March 31, 2017
I. Just. Love. This. Art. And a good use of die-cuts.
June 5, 2017
A wonderful rhyming book with fantastic illustrations.
February 2, 2018
Visually this picture book is stunning, and the simple (but important) story of a little bee pollinating every flower is just lovely.
May 9, 2017
Lovely book. Great introduction to the bee's role in pollination.
So much to like about this book. I am lucky enough to have the hardback copy which has a gorgeous matt feel to the pages. The illustrations have a layered, detailed, delicate feel. Each one takes you head on into the action and each one has its own effective palette. I particularly like the song birds, thrushes I think they are. The meadow scene is another favourite, well lets be honest, there's none of it I don't like! The end papers are beauties, too.
I love some of the adventurous vocabulary used in the text. Lots to talk about. Words like, 'thrumming' 'quivers' 'dense' to name a few. I also like the use of the names of some plants and flowers native to England, 'rose' 'weeping willow'.
This book could lead into lots of different lines of interest apart from the obvious, pollination. It could be that the flowers take you off into looking at our native flowers and which attract the bees. This would make a great part of an eco project. The protection of bees and their habitat is a hot topic at the minute and rightly so.
The Book of Bees , Piotr Socha & Wojciech Grajkowski would be a perfect accompaniment to this . Bee and Me , Alison Jay, a wordless picture book with its balance of fiction and fact would work alongside beautifully.
RSPB First Book of Flowers would help with taking interest into the plants & flowers. A Little Guide to Wild Flowers, Charlotte Voake is beautiful and would fit with this too.
I'm rambling, getting carried away with my school brain! Apologies!
So much to like about this book. I am lucky enough to have the hardback copy which has a gorgeous matt feel to the pages. The illustrations have a layered, detailed, delicate feel. Each one takes you head on into the action and each one has its own effective palette. I particularly like the song birds, thrushes I think they are. The meadow scene is another favourite, well lets be honest, there's none of it I don't like! The end papers are beauties, too.
I love some of the adventurous vocabulary used in the text. Lots to talk about. Words like, 'thrumming' 'quivers' 'dense' to name a few. I also like the use of the names of some plants and flowers native to England, 'rose' 'weeping willow'.
This book could lead into lots of different lines of interest apart from the obvious, pollination. It could be that the flowers take you off into looking at our native flowers and which attract the bees. This would make a great part of an eco project. The protection of bees and their habitat is a hot topic at the minute and rightly so.
The Book of Bees , Piotr Socha & Wojciech Grajkowski would be a perfect accompaniment to this . Bee and Me , Alison Jay, a wordless picture book with its balance of fiction and fact would work alongside beautifully.
RSPB First Book of Flowers would help with taking interest into the plants & flowers. A Little Guide to Wild Flowers, Charlotte Voake is beautiful and would fit with this too.
I'm rambling, getting carried away with my school brain! Apologies!
November 1, 2018
Review originally published on my blog,
Nine Pages
.
This is not the first of Teckentrup’s books that I’ve read. Her strength I feel is in lyrically romanticizing the ordinary—thus far her subjects have always been also natural. This like Tree is more nonfiction than fiction, depicting the day and job of a worker bee and bees as pollinators. Many animals, including a bee in a peek-hole through each page, hide among the illustrations, making a fun spot-the-critter game as you read through the book. Teckentrup uses lyrical language and specific detail to paint her text. This made for a good side book to Guthrie and co.’s Princesses Save the World. A bit more on level for my youngest listeners and certainly much shorter, there’s less—really no—problem here, certainly no talk of a global crisis, but it seemed a good way to introduce the concept of why bees are so important to an ecosystem.
This is not the first of Teckentrup’s books that I’ve read. Her strength I feel is in lyrically romanticizing the ordinary—thus far her subjects have always been also natural. This like Tree is more nonfiction than fiction, depicting the day and job of a worker bee and bees as pollinators. Many animals, including a bee in a peek-hole through each page, hide among the illustrations, making a fun spot-the-critter game as you read through the book. Teckentrup uses lyrical language and specific detail to paint her text. This made for a good side book to Guthrie and co.’s Princesses Save the World. A bit more on level for my youngest listeners and certainly much shorter, there’s less—really no—problem here, certainly no talk of a global crisis, but it seemed a good way to introduce the concept of why bees are so important to an ecosystem.
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October 19, 2018Lovely book which would work really in a science class to help explain the importance of bees and pollination.
April 1, 2022
Lovely illustrations and rhyming scheme throughout the book. Also pretty accurate to what bees bring to our natural world. 🐝 🌸
October 21, 2019
The illustrations in this book are lovely! This book is all about the job of bees, pollination and flowers. This book could be used either with KS1 with the focus on early poetry or later KS2 with a more science focus. The younger children would love this book and the illustrations that come with it.
May 8, 2019
Very cute! I love the pictures. The rhyme is lovely but ended up feeling a little long when read aloud.
Used in Bee storytime on 5/7/19.
Used in Bee storytime on 5/7/19.
October 8, 2019
With bees currently being an endangered species, this would be an interesting book to read with children. Discussions about ways to help the bees and to provide bees with what they need to survive could be powerful at this time.
July 30, 2017
“Gathering nectar as she goes,
From every foxglove, every rose,
Dusty with pollen, the little bee
Buzzes, buzzes, busily.”
This gentle, rhyming story details the activity of one little bee and how it pollenates flowers while on its mission collecting nectar for the colony. With text easy enough for beginning readers, non-readers will enjoy poking fingers through the die-cut pages. Teckentrup’s bright mixed media artwork is extraordinary, setting this work apart from the average story about bees. The book is filled with visual details – flowers and fauna in forest and field – and visual facts – bees are not solitary creatures.
An excellent choice for including in a unit on bees, insects, and pollination. For K-1
From every foxglove, every rose,
Dusty with pollen, the little bee
Buzzes, buzzes, busily.”
This gentle, rhyming story details the activity of one little bee and how it pollenates flowers while on its mission collecting nectar for the colony. With text easy enough for beginning readers, non-readers will enjoy poking fingers through the die-cut pages. Teckentrup’s bright mixed media artwork is extraordinary, setting this work apart from the average story about bees. The book is filled with visual details – flowers and fauna in forest and field – and visual facts – bees are not solitary creatures.
An excellent choice for including in a unit on bees, insects, and pollination. For K-1
October 1, 2017
What a fun and exciting way to introduce the importance of the bee to children! Bee is such an informative and interesting book, and could be used in a variety of subjects - from Science, to English, to Art. I was instantly drawn in by the bright and vibrant front cover - the cut-out effect left me intrigued to find out where the bee's journey would take me. I really loved the illustrations, from the colours and texture, to the beautiful detail on each page - they offer so much to explore and discuss. I also loved the language Teckentrup uses - the rhythm and rhyme makes the book even more engaging!
February 25, 2017
Just as tree did last year, this peek-through book follows one thing through the course of a journey, weaving in scientific information throughout the rhyming verse. With the danger to the bee population we are currently experiences, I think this book has even more importance and impact, as it follows a bee pollinating flowers. The illustrations are fantastic with details of animals and plants to explore on every page.
July 30, 2017
Beautiful and informative at the same time! I just love the attention to detail--my four-year-old and I had lots of fun looking at each picture to see what the various creatures were up to (look for the ladybug in every scene, and keep an eye on the caterpillar). Even though the bee is the star of the show, she has lots of interesting friends, as well. Looking forward to reading more from this author/illustrator!
March 16, 2017
Look for the hidden ladybug on each set of pages! I wish that there was something informational/age-appropriate that could have gone at the end of this since our bees are in such trouble to bring even greater awareness to this issue. Glad for books like this though that draw people in and hopefully create awareness.
April 7, 2022
I'm a little obsessed with bees so I might be biased but this book is gorgeous. The text is simple, all about the daily life a bee. There are hexagonal cutouts offering a peaks at the other pages throughout.
February 24, 2017
This is a beautiful book full of color. It also has a unique "hole" in the middle where you see a bee on the last page. The text is rhyming and there are only a few lines of text on each page. Really nice for younger readers and preschoolers.
June 12, 2017
Much to absorb in this in the rhyming tale about a busy bee. The diecuts are simple but effective. I find the illustrations layering overwhelming page after page. Nonetheless a bright and beautiful book.
July 31, 2017
This charming book includes a few bee facts as it explains in rhyme what a bee does for flowers and how the bees in a hive all work together. If you have need for more sweet read aloud books for spring, this book is sure to please with its cut out/peek through illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 147 reviews