The Bumblebee Queen [Paperback]

April Pulley Sayre (Author), Patricia J. Wynne (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-3–Engaging watercolors keep time with a simple, easy-to-read text describing the life cycle of a bumblebee queen, from her awakening from winter hibernation to her death in late autumn. Sayre includes "fact circles" containing extra data on these creatures, a couple of closing paragraphs on bumblebee/honeybee pollinating skills, and respectful human behavior toward bees. Gentle, informative, and appealing, this title is an effective antidote to the edgy world of "killer" bees.–Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 1-3. In the spring, a queen bee digs her way out of the ground and flies off to drink nectar and search for a home for her colony. She settles into an old mouse nest, makes a waxy cup for storing nectar, lays eggs, tends them, and hatches them. After going through the larval stage, the new bees become workers, drones, and queens. In the fall, the new queens mate with drones before burrowing underground for the winter. A dual text conveys the main facts in large-type words, carefully chosen for sound as well as meaning. In a smaller font, another paragraph on each page or double-page spread offers related information in greater detail. Precise ink drawings with watercolor washes illustrate the text with clarity, simplicity, and skill. An appended spread includes a circular illustration of the bee's life cycle as well as more facts about U.S. bees and pollination, suggested activities, tips on observing bees, and short lists of recommended books and Web sites. Informative and attractive. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Charlesbridge Publishing (July 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570913633
• ISBN-13: 978-1570913631
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 8.5 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #329,811 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #68 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Animals > Bugs & Spiders > Nonfiction

More About the Author

April Pulley Sayre loves the sounds of animals and the sounds of words. She is an award-winning author of over 55 natural history books for children and adults. Her read-aloud books, known for their lyricism and scientific precision, have been translated into French, Dutch, Japanese, and Korean. Her picture book VULTURE VIEW, illustrated by Steve Jenkins, received the Theodor "Seuss" Geisel Honor from the American Library Association. STARS BENEATH YOUR BED: the Surprising Story of Dust, received the AAAS/SB&F/Subaru Prize for Excellence in Science Books and was named an ALA Notable. ONE IS SNAIL, TEN IS A CRAB was an ALA Notable and received Britain's highest literacy award. THE BUMBLEBEE QUEEN marked her third win of the John Burroughs Award. Sayre and her husband Jeff have followed lemurs in Madagascar, pursued army ants in Panama, and eaten piranha in the Peruvian Amazon. Mostly, though, they garden for wildlife and munch blueberries at their home in the Midwest.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars HERE'S THE BUZZ, April 11, 2005

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Bumblebee Queen (Hardcover)

How pleasant to find a children's book about an insect without anthropomorphic illustrations. Patricia Wynne's illustrations are bright, sunny, and accurate, allowing young readers to have a close up view of bumblebees as they really look. Done in watercolor and ink, her drawings of the differences between queens, drones, and workers are especially fetching.

Author Sayre's text is spare with informational asides, such as the number of species of bumblebees, their stinging habits, how nectar becomes honey, etc. The author has chosen to relate the life span of one queen bee, tracing the bee from early spring when she is underground to emerging and building her colony, and finally the birth of new queens and drones.

Youngsters may well be surprised at what one small bee can accomplish, and develop a healthy admiration for nature's creatures.

- Gail Cooke

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing and highly informative., September 27, 2006

By 

Cady Hayden "Children's Book Author" (Bergenfield, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bumblebee Queen (Hardcover)

Simple but concise drawings and watercolor illustrations of a queen bee and her stages of life, duties, activities and choices. The illustrator is a well-known scientific artist and the quality of her work speaks for itself in this story. No wonder this book received the TCA, Teacher's Choice Award. Each page is a story with descriptive qualities and then there is a little bee that circles a dialogue bubble with factual information different but adding to the story to enhance clarity and answer questions the child might be asking hiim/herself. I learned so much from reading this book and was amazed at how much I retained because of the manner in which it was written, simple and direct. I might have rated this book a 5, but I felt as if someone ripped the last conclusionary page of the book out. It really needed one or two more sentences. I did enjoy the extra pages in the back of the book filled with bee websites, bee activities, good bee-havior and a list of other bee books.