The Honeybee Man by Lel Nargi and Kyrsten Brooker

Fred, the main character in The Honeybee Man, has a very unique family.  In this tale, by Lela Nargi and Kyrsten Brooker, Fred cares for and understands his bees as if he were their father.  He has become so knowledgeable about bees and making honey that he knows which bees are young and which are old and he knows exactly what bees do when they leave the hive.  He gives the queen bees historical names, such as Queen Mab and Queen Nefertiti, and talks to them as if they can understand him.  One thing, although though there are many, I liked about this book is that the other human characters, Fred’s neighbors, were ethnically diverse.  The illustrations enhance the story by giving us a visual of the bee hive and honey-making equipment.  It also helps us get a better grasp of Fred as a character.  The front of the book states that the illustrations were done in “collage and oil paint.”  The use of collage adds tons of details to the book by helping us get to know the character and his environment better, such as using real pictures as the decorations in his home.  As we learn about Fred and his bees and get a chuckle from his strange actions, we are also learning a lot about bees!  The inside of the cover and the last two pages provide the reader more factual information about the life of a bee and the honey-making process.  One caution, though, is that the author does not provide sources for the reader to verify the accuracy of the information.  Despite this one caution, I enjoyed everything about this book and fell in love with Fred the bee keeper.  He just reminded me so much of my Grandpa!
            Obviously this would be a great book to use in a classroom when talking about the life of the bee and making honey.  It lays out the steps of the honey making process as well as provides information about the life cycle of the bee.  At some point after reading this book I would like to invite a real bee keeper into the classroom to give the children more information about this occupation/hobby.  I think having guest speakers is a great way to show the kids how big the world is and how many opportunities there are.  I thinking having guest speakers also increases the likelihood that kids will store the information they’ve learned in long term memory because it will be more salient in their minds.  Another activity for this book is splitting the children up into groups of four or five and, as groups, having them draw a picture of one step of the bee cycle or the honey making process.  The drawings could then be combined on a bulletin board.  I like activities such as this because I believe they foster a sense of cooperation and community in the classroom that is so vital to learning.  Lastly, this book could also be used to introduce children who live in small towns or a suburb to city living since the story is set in Brooklyn. The illustrations are wonderful and provide students with pictures of the city neighborhood from a variety of perspectives.  The main character Fred, also describes the sights and sounds of city life, and uses city terms such as “brownstone” and “roof top terrace.”  I think natural teachable moments will pop up in a discussion such as this because chances are some students in the classroom have been to or lived in a big city before and can share their experiences of how life is the same and different there. 
Year Published: 2011