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Bee Book

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Discover more about our fuzzy little insect friends with award-winning author and illustrator Charlotte Milner.The perfect introduction to bee conservation for little ones. Learn all about the beautiful world of bees and their adventure from flower to flower. You'll find out just how much they matter, why they are declining, and what we can do to help in this adorable kids' book.Bees are brilliant at building, super social creatures and along with other insects, are responsible for a third of every mouthful of food you eat! Children will be fascinated by the beautiful pictures and learn plenty of buzz-worthy fun facts in every chapter, covering types of bees, beehives, beekeeping, how they pollinate plants and make honey.A beautiful kid's educational book about bees with a crucial not only does it inform and educate about an issue that is a real threat, but it also delivers it in a way that is gripping for all ages.A dazzling celebration of bees, packaged in a gorgeous hard backed book made with high- quality paper and spectacular illustrations.What's The Buzz About Honey Bees?Meet the humble honeybee face-to-face - an animal that is considered nature's hardest worker, in this engaging, educational kids book that you can treasure forever.What do they do all day? Why are bees important? Find out why they need our help and what you can do.Bees are responsible for so much more than making honey. This book is an essential tool in encouraging the protection of our precious buzzing friends for generations to come.Learn all about these valuable - What happens in the hive- What pollination is- Who the queen is- How honeybees talk to each other- How we can help them and much, much more!This adorable book is one of three children's books on conservation by award-winning author Charlotte Milner and includes The Sea Book and The Bat Book for your little ones to enjoy.

Hardcover

Published February 1, 2018

12 people are currently reading
266 people want to read

About the author

Charlotte Milner

17 books10 followers

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5 stars
238 (58%)
4 stars
140 (34%)
3 stars
25 (6%)
2 stars
1 (<1%)
1 star
1 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews
Profile Image for Trish.
2,410 reviews3,759 followers
April 4, 2021
This is the third book by this author that I'm reading. The theme seemed perfect for this time of year.

Bees are incredibly important animals. They are nature's gardeners and food producers (in a way). They are also fascinating to almost no end what with their social structures and their perfectly shaped creations.
Sadly, bees are very much in danger and that automatically threatens humans, too.
Therefore, this book is meant to charm and educate readers of all ages at the same time.

Accompanying the informative text are wonderful illustrations showing the different types of bees, their habitats, the foods they help grow, how we can help/protect them and much more.







Just like the other books by this author, this is appealing both visually and contents-wise.
Profile Image for Jon Nakapalau.
6,649 reviews1,052 followers
April 4, 2025
Very informative book that will introduce children to all the important things bees do for us. Have to admit that I am getting a little concerned; I have noticed that over the past 10 years there are fewer and fewer bees around. Use to see them in my backyard all the time...along with frogs and toads...now also gone.
Profile Image for Alicia.
8,832 reviews158 followers
March 24, 2020
The book is a phenomenal nonfiction picture book about bees for sure. The visual appeal and movement across the page makes the layout one of the most important aspects of the book, but so does the writing which is relevant basic instruction of the most precious bee, the honeybee while still giving a little bit of information about other types.

Several pages are the kind of layouts that posters are made of whether it be the honeycomb style or life cycle or explanation of the three kinds (queen, worker, drone) and the choice of information makes it digestible without feeling overwhelmed.

Likewise, it also tells the story about bee conservation without being preachy, it's straightforward that without bees most of our food can't exist. Period. It's powerful.
Profile Image for Sandy.
2,825 reviews71 followers
August 11, 2021
Let’s talk about bees. What do you really know about bees and what do you think you know about bees? I think that most people know that bees make honey and that there’s a queen bee, a drone bee and worker bees in a hive. Did you know that there’s hundreds of drone bees in a hive and that they only live a few weeks? Did you know that the queen bee typically lives 5 years and that she’s the mother to most of the bees in the hive? I thought the worker bees were busy, but the queen bee, she lays about 2,000 eggs a day! Welcome to just one page inside this fantastic book by Charlotte Milner. With the bee population dwindling, reading about these fascinating creatures made me realize just how important they really are.

With bright colorful illustrations this book is full and I mean, full of information!! Upon opening the book, there is a Table of Content which consists of a list of comments or questions pertaining to bees with a corresponding page number. Thumbing through the book, I love just looking at all the different illustrations on the pages and reading the text that accompanies them. Some of these are just fast-facts about bees and some provided more detailed reading but they’re not long reports on bees that slow me down or overwhelm me. At the back of the book, there’s a great index too. Did I mention how wonderful the illustrations are and how bright and colorful the pages are?

I can learn about pollination, why pollination is important, what a honeybee is, where honey comes from, and tons of information on the honeybee’s hives. I can learn about the different types of bees that are needed inside a hive, why the bee population is dying and what I can do to help the bees survive. I can also read about bee swarms which sound like a horrible thing but according to the brief summary, they usually aren’t.

This is a wonderful book. It’s a book worth keeping and definitely, one worth sharing. I’m sure that everyone will learn something from this book unless of course, you’ve been studying bees for years. So, where does a honeybee store the nectar that it collects before he goes back to the nest? How many eyes does the honeybee have? Why does he have so many? Can the female honeybee sting you? Better get reading to find these answers.
Profile Image for Marzie.
1,203 reviews98 followers
July 1, 2018
When it comes to conservation of any sort, one of the best strategies is educating our children about nature. Helping children understand bees, rather than being afraid of them, is vital to the survival of our increasingly vulnerable bee population. This little book does a great job of demystifying honeybees for children and teaches them about how vital bees are for our food supply. One thing I liked was that the book's sole focus is not just on honeybees! There are even instructions on setting up a bee "hotel" for solitary bees. (It's important to mention to kids is that solitary bees like mason bees do not sting.)

All in all, a great little book for a child.

I received an ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Arminzerella.
3,746 reviews94 followers
May 16, 2018
This bee book provides a good introduction to various species of bees, the life cycle of the honeybee, why bees (and other pollinators) are important, and how we can help them (and more!). Bee-utiful illustrations accompany the text, in bright colors that are sure to attract readers' attention. One of the most comprehensive bee books for a juvenile audience, it leaves out one important threat to bees that really should be mentioned - the Varroa destructor mite. Mites, in combination with all of the other threats bees face (disease, habitat loss, pesticides, etc.), can really compromise bees' immune systems, which makes them less capable of dealing with the other stressors. [Note: the "stamen" in the flower diagram is misleadingly labeled - the arrow points at the anther, which is not mentioned at all; the whole structure is the stamen (including the filament).]
Profile Image for Ria.
924 reviews
May 19, 2023
Het is tijd voor een bijles over de bij!
Bijen verdwijnen, terwijl zij heel nuttig zijn voor onze planeet. Wat doet een bij de hele dag? Vast niet alleen maar vliegen. Waarom hoort een bij erbij en waarom zijn ze belangrijk en zo bijzonder?
Waar komt honing vandaan en hoe wordt honing gemaakt? Waar woont een bij en hoe komt het dat een bij gonst? Op al deze vragen vind je een antwoord in het boek.

De bij die in Nederland het meest wordt gezien is de hommel, maar dit is niet de enige soort. Er zijn namelijk ong. 20.000 soorten bijen. Grote bijen zoals de wel 4 cm! grote Megachile pluto, kleine bijen oftewel de dwergbij en boze bijen zoals de geafrikaniseerde honingbij. De bekendste bij is de honingbij en in dit bijenboek wordt uitgelegd wat een honingbij in zijn leven doet en meemaakt.

Er wordt aan de hand van vier oorzaken duidelijk gemaakt dat het niet goed gaat met de bij.
Wij kunnen hier iets aan doen! Bijv. door de eenvoudig uit te voeren tips: het maken van een bijenhotel, bloemen en natuur in de tuin i.p.v. alleen bestrating, geen gebruik van chemicaliën in de tuin, laat paardenbloemen gezellig staan en maai niet iedere week het gras.

De mooie vormgeving valt op en de speelse, duidelijke afbeeldingen dragen bij aan de nuttige en interessante tekst in een prettig lezend lettertype. De kleuren en opzet in tekstblokken, bijv. honingraten, zullen aanspreken waardoor het ook voor de jonge lezer boeiend blijft om door te lezen.
Met dit boek leer je dat de bij méér is dan een irritant insect. Het zou een definitieve verstoring voor dier, plant en mens zijn als deze diersoort uitsterft en we de nuttige, hardste werkers uit de natuur zouden verliezen. Ze zijn nodig om de variatie in de natuur te behouden.

Dit zeer aan te bevelen boek bevat een volledig overzicht. Het gaat niet alleen over het leven van de bij, maar juist ook over de dringende noodzaak van het behoud van de bij in ons bio-systeem. Het verdwijnen van de bij uit het ecosysteem treft ons regelrecht in het hart van de voedselproductie.
Het boek doet je stilstaan bij het feit dat de bij niet alleen in Nederland, maar wereldwijd essentieel is en we zuinig moeten zijn op de bijen. Een noodzaak niet alleen iets van de lange termijn maar juist van het NU.

Blijf iedereen bijpraten over de bij! Wees blij met de bij! Een zeer aan te raden boek voor op de leestafel! Een boek voor iedereen.
Profile Image for Laura (Book Scrounger).
775 reviews57 followers
November 28, 2017
The Bee Book is a visually appealing introduction to bees, focusing on the honey bee, and emphasizing how important they are to the world.

I love the full-page illustrations with the lovely contrast of blue and yellow, and the way the information is spread out -- the book covers a lot of bee-ish topics without becoming too verbose about any of them. (And for what it's worth, I think they hit the sweet spot as far as bee-related puns go -- a couple at appropriate times without overdoing it.)

We learn about the life cycle of the honeybee as well as the different roles of each type within the hive. I had no idea that worker bees' lives and tasks were so well organized based on age. At the end of the book are some ideas for ways to help bee populations such as making a "bee hotel" and planting more flowers.

(Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy.)
Profile Image for Amber Webb.
735 reviews19 followers
November 5, 2017
The Bee Book by Charlotte Milner will be an excellent addition to my classroom. Milner reviews bees and their lives in beautiful, simple ways to make all kids interested in learning more and having compassion on this population.
17 reviews
June 10, 2018
I like children's books about complicated subjects. This book covers bee life cycle, disappearance, honey making, pollination, predators, types of bees, etc. It has instructions for making a solitary bee shelter with bamboo and a plastic bottle. It doesn't explain how some of the bee facts are derived, and the sources are not cited. But, it's a children's book. It answered some questions I had about bees.
Profile Image for Michelle.
921 reviews38 followers
June 4, 2018
The Bee Book was terrific. The artwork grabbed my attention immediately and the layout was powerfully informative. This book taught me a lot and inspired me to want to help the bees.
Profile Image for Caitlin Conlon.
Author 5 books153 followers
May 19, 2018
absolutely wonderful book for kids AND adults!
Profile Image for Annie.
4,834 reviews89 followers
February 11, 2018
Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Due out 06 Feb, 2018, by author/illustrator Charlotte Milner from DIY/info expert publishers DK, this is a wonderful book about bees aimed at younger readers.

Written in an informal, accessible style, the book includes quite a lot of advanced and up to date scientific info about both solitary and social bees and the vital role they play in the health and productivity of our planet. Many of the pages are broken up into colorful and informative sidebars with info and pictures of the types of bees, how they live, what they eat (and what depends on them for food) and what we can do to help them.

I loved the positive and upbeat message along with the concrete tips for improving bee habitats and health. There are also some included craft projects (a bee hotel!) and tips for seasonal flowers to provide food and habitat for bees.

This is a lovely little book (48 pages) available in hardback and ebook versions and would be at home in a school or home library. Bees are so vitally important to our continued health, and education is the first vital step in protecting our future.

Lovely book, beautifully illustrated (bonus points for including solitary bees as well as social bees).

Five stars

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
Profile Image for Jesse.
185 reviews5 followers
May 21, 2024
This non-fiction book tackles everything you ever needed to know about honeybees. It includes their life-cycle, roles, behaviours, and importance to the environment.

The first thing I noted about this book is that it's a DK one – those that follow will know I just love the non-fiction books that DK publish – they are usually well organised and packed with information in a way that children love!

This book is different – there are no photographs but I have to say this is one of the most enjoyable non-fiction books I have ever read. It’s a bit quirky and a bit fun – but I couldn’t put it down. Now, I consider myself fairly knowledgeable about bees (having been a specialist science teacher) but I have to say – there were a few facts in there that I didn’t know! The book is very well organised and flows brilliantly so you also don’t have to read from cover to cover.
Profile Image for The Bibliophagist .
220 reviews22 followers
March 16, 2018
I loved this book!
In an age where children are not taught the importance of nature, but primarily use electronics, it is vital to show them how much of an impact something so small can have. Honeybees are declining and we depend on them. My in-laws have about 300 hives. Honeybees have a special place in my heart.
The pages were filled with such brightly colored illustrations! I look forward to obtaining a hardcopy of this book for both my children and my in-laws. Show your kids this book, you will not regret it. It gives so much information from the anatomy of the honeybee to how to help protect them. Pick this book up now and get a start on teaching our kids how to help these beautiful and important creatures.
Profile Image for Richelle Zirkle.
2,207 reviews15 followers
October 5, 2017
I was fascinated by this title that teaches children all about bees. This is a great book to read with your pre-k and elementary school age child. It does a very good job of detailing the life cycle of bees, the types of bees that live in each hive, and the work of the bees. It also goes on to describe how bees, or a lack of bees, impacts our environment and food production. The title offers solutions to creating habitats that bees will find more hospitable to support bee population growth. The illustrations work very well to support the text and further explain the life of bees.

I received an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Profile Image for Maureen Schlosser.
Author 2 books4 followers
March 23, 2018
If you want to grab the attention of a child, mention a Harry Potter reference and watch their eyes light up. That’s what author Charlotte Milner does in The Bee Book when she states that a “dumbledore” is a bumblebee. This fun fact presented with infographic flair will compel children to keep reading. Every page delivers interesting facts with engaging illustrations. Teachers will immediately recognize the value of using The Bee Book as a mentor text. Noting Milner’s craft for delivering information will inspire young nonfiction writers. Budding scientists will appreciate learning the significance of bees. Helpful solutions at the end of the book will inspire them to make a difference.
Profile Image for Jennifer Margeson.
779 reviews23 followers
February 24, 2018
The Bee Book by Charlotte Milner is a precisely written nonfiction book targeted for older preschool to younger elementary. The book is teeming with factoids and tidbits to entice little learners to want to know more. It also covers a wide range of information about honeybees, including bee anatomy, pollination and where honey comes from. I would have awarded this book 5 stars if it had included photographs with the illustrations. I definitely will use parts of this book with preschoolers during my Bees unit! Thanks to the author, publisher and #NetGalley for sharing #TheBeeBook with me!
Profile Image for Erin.
1,535 reviews11 followers
October 31, 2017
This is a wonderful non-fiction book for young readers. I love how the information is presented, there is a lot of it, but I don't get information overload because the layout is very pleasing and easy to follow. I love that the honeycomb motif is continued throughout. I read a digital copy and I can't wait to see it in physical format because I bet it is even more beautiful.
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Profile Image for Ryan.
5,971 reviews33 followers
October 20, 2017
What a wonderful book. The author takes a page to talk about the various types of bees but the book mainly looks at the Honey Bee. It covers the body and how they live and work. Why we need bees and how they help the environment is in here and includes thing and flowers you can plant to help grow bee populations. This was well done and a great source for any collection.
Profile Image for Kate Taelman.
155 reviews2 followers
November 9, 2017
I adored this book. The writing was spot on for children. There was a great deal of information in this book, much I didn't know.

The illustrations were cute, the diagrams extremely easy to understand.

I definitely recommend this book for bug loving kids and elementary classrooms.

*I was able to read/review an advanced copy through Netgalley
Profile Image for KarenB.
116 reviews
March 6, 2018
While this picture book is full of words and packed with information, it is written in a way that completely engages the reader. The illustrations are beautiful and eye catching. Definitely a great read!
Profile Image for Kelly.
8,895 reviews19 followers
March 7, 2018
Our library has this classified as a picture book. But there is WAY too much information in here to classify as your typical picture book. Chock full of information about bees. Very interesting, and I don't like insects.
Profile Image for Victoria Peipert.
214 reviews6 followers
May 27, 2018
Excellent exploration of bees! Very clear information. Beautiful illustrations. Fun and education read for children!
1,966 reviews6 followers
April 21, 2020
A big thank you to NetGalley for the ARC. I am voluntarily reviewing this book. This is a children's book. I love bees and this is a great book. Very educational. I rate it a 4.5.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 101 reviews