Clan Apis [Paperback]

Jay Hosler (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Gr. 5-7. The life cycle and natural environment of the honeybee become grist for an entomologist who is both cartoonist and storyteller. Opening with a creation myth ("Once upon a long, long time ago") and working through the biological, sociological, and ecological changes affecting the life of Nyuki the bee, the text is a combination of authoritative science; appealing, detailed black-and-white drawings; and dialogue replete with humor, pubescent angst, political sloganeering, and more. Nyuki's colony undertakes migration to a new hive, is beset by a woodpecker, and hibernates through a winter that yields to a revitalizing spring. The bees are nicely individualized, as are the plants and other insects that figure into their lives, and there are a number of clever touches. All in all, this is the sort of science book that even devoted fiction and comics readers will enjoy. Francisca Goldsmith
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Paperback: 158 pages
• Publisher: Active Synapse; 2 edition (January 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 096772550X
• ISBN-13: 978-0967725505
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 9.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #153,711 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I laughed.... I cried..... I fell in love.... October 24, 2003

By M. Ahrens

Format:Paperback

I have got to come up with a better sell on this book than........it's a graphic novel........about bees.

You follow our heroine through her amazing development as an organism, and as a person. (ahem, sorry..a bee) The plot twists, turns, does loop-de-loops. The characters mature and show a surprising depth of emotion. Each bee is unique in appearance and deed, without being "cartoony"....they could be illustrations in a textbook as far as authenticity goes....and yet they show emotions.

There are points where you'll laugh, and points where you'll cry, and at times you'll want to cheer out loud. (I did)

What an amazing book. You are totally entertained, and yes you also learn something...but for me that was a distant second.

Waaaaayyyyy cool.

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hey, don't categorize this as "just" a kids' book! October 23, 2003

By Michael K. Smith TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

The first duty of a graphic novel, obviously, is to entertain. Hosler, who has a Ph.D. and specializes in neuroscience and bees, not tells a really good story about life and personalities in the hive, and is a very talented artist besides, he also manages to cram in a great deal of educational information. Icing on the cake. He starts with the birth and transformation from larva to pupa to adult of Nyuki (Japanese for "bee"), a worker who often annoys her colleague, even her older sister, Dvorah (Hebrew for "bee," etc.). She gets lost, is almost eaten, befriends a flower named Bloomington and a dung beetle named Sisyphus, finally gets her act together (though she has to be coaxed to leave the hive again for the dangers of the outside world), and goes on to better things -- as well as a rather poetic end. The anthropomorphization is actually pretty minor, all things considered. And there's an interesting postscript about what happened when the author turned out to be allergic to bee stings. I don't know if Hosler has another insect adventure in him, but I'll be on the look-out.

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A rather brilliantly executed graphic novel format June 6, 2001

By Midwest Book Review

Format:Paperback

Jay Hosler's Clan Apis is a rather brilliantly executed graphic novel format presentation of life in the beehive. Accurate, informative, totally engaging, the biology and life cycle of the bee is laid out with an anthropomorphic storytelling that is as fun as it is educational. Clan Apis is highly recommended reading for all ages -- especially for those who thought the life and world of the bee might just have some relevance for we mere humans living in our post-industrial, information age.