#The Secret Life of Bees by Moira Butterfield (Illustrated by Vivian Mineker) @Quarto Publishing Group

Description:

Follow Buzzwing the honeybee on a beautifully illustrated journey through the world of bees filled with amazing science and intriguing folklore.

Welcome to my honey hive home.
It’s where I live with my family.
I’m small and fuzzy and striped black and gold.
I’m Buzzwing the hardworking honeybee!

Did you know that bees love to dance? Or that they have an amazing sense of smell to help them find the best flowers? In The Secret Life of Bees, Buzzwing shares with you all the details of her life as a bee, in and out of the hive, starting with the day she was born.

Learn the secrets of this worker bee’s tiny world, including: The bee life cycleBee anatomyHow bees collect nectar and make honeyWhat happens inside the hiveThe different types of beesWhy bees are so important to humansHow bees can thrive in the cityBee folk tales from around the world With things to search for and find throughout, tips for making your own environment welcoming to bees, and even a poetry-writing exercise, The Secret Life of Bees is brimming with reasons to admire and respect the hardworking honeybee.

Sumptuous and detailed illustrations have pride of place in this magical guide to bees that mixes natural history with a splash of fantasy—a book to be pored over time and again.

My thoughts:

The first thing that came to my mind when I saw this book is that the illustrations are absolutely gorgeous. The colours are so bright and vivid that you do feel as if you've been magically transported to a spring meadow full of flowers.

But the book isn't just beautiful. It is also very informative, covering a variety of topics related to these hardworking animals: their anatomy, the structure of a hive, different types of bees,  the way bees use dance for communication, honey-making, beekeeping, and many others. All of this is combined with tales from all over the world to engage children and show how universal our interest in bees is across different cultures.

This book would make a great teaching resource for elementary school or  homeschooling.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing Group for the review copy provided in exchange foran honest opinion.