YOU ARE A HONEY BEE!

Young readers are encouraged to emulate a honey bee’s actions as they learn about its basic biology.

The smiling adult worker bee emerges with a “CHOMP, WIGGLE, [and] STRETCH” in the opening double-page spread; in a corner panel, three circles each highlight a different smiling human child (racially diverse) engaging in each action. This sets a pattern as the bee cycles through its various roles: nursing larvae, making honey, guarding, foraging. Setting key verbs in all-caps, the chirpy text uses the second person, further encouraging readers to relate to the insect protagonist: “You STOP on a flower. You unroll your long tongue and DRINK up the sweet nectar…SLURP!” Fleck’s flat, undistinguished illustrations present a stylized bee with an oversized yellow head and black-and-yellow body that tapers to a point. It’s all cute enough, but specific choices undermine the book’s educational mission. While some specialized vocabulary is presented (royal jelly, glands, antennae), Thompson elides metamorphosis, saying the adult bee “wake[s] up,” and incorrectly calls larvae “chubby white worms.” Worse, Fleck’s depiction of the honey bees’ nest finds it hanging impossibly from a single branch, exposed to the elements. This in no way replaces or even complements Candace Fleming and Eric Rohmann’s magisterial Honeybee (2020).

Well meaning but simplistic.