Jump into Science: Honeybees
Kindergarten-Grade 3-Young readers will be awed by the amount of information packed into this brief book. The bold, gouache illustrations reinforce the hard work and myriad tasks described. From the opening pages, bees are shown on the move, gathering nectar, feeding larvae, maturing, cleaning and polishing cells, making wax, taking care of the queen, unloading nectar, and guarding the hives. Like the bees, readers jump from one concept to another and may become confused by the changing roles and stages, not realizing that a worker bee and a forager bee are the same. There is also some confusion between the diagrams and the text. The text refers to a bee's tongue whereas the diagram shows only a proboscis. Heiligman also states that bees use every part of their body to do their work but no mention is made of the role of the thorax, forelegs, or compound eye. Nonetheless, readers will learn how bees communicate, the role of royal jelly, and just how hardworking honeybees really are. An attractive addition.Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DCCopyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.