Tag: Animals

Bee Books

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Being a Bee (2017)
by Jinny Johnson and Lucy Davey

This beautiful children’s book gives information about bees on each page.  Not an overwhelming amount, but definitely educational and interesting.  It has the feel of a picture book, but the added bonus of teaching us more about bees.  There are great tips and resources at the end as well!  Definitely one to check out if you’re interested in studying bees.

The Honeybee
words by Kirsten Hall, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault (2018)

This is one of my favorite of the bee books we checked out while studying bees.  In this picture book, the author uses catchy, flowing poetry to show readers the journey of a bee’s season.  It’s beautifully told and beautifully illustrated and designed.  The book ends with information and tips for appreciating and protecting bees.  Such an important book for our young ones to read, but also such an enjoyable one.

Beehive (2020)
by Jorey Hurley

This book’s pages are simple, containing just one word per page.  But it is such a gorgeous way to tell the readers about a bee’s journey.  Overly simple books can be very hit or miss, but this one is a definite winner.  The author’s note at the end shares more information about each of the steps shown in the book.  I can’t wait to check out more by Jorey Hurley!

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Bees

Sophie Mouse

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by Poppy Green, illustrated by Jennifer A. Bell

The Sophie Mouse series started in 2015 and the 20th book comes out this May, 2023.  We did not read these in order when first discovering them. The first one I remember reading to the kids was Book 14, The Great Bake Off.  And while these books all end with more of an “Awww…” than an emotional tear, this particular one hit me at the right time and I definitely got misty-eyed.

Sophie Mouse’s world in Silverlake Forest is charming.  It’s lovely and ideal, with all animal species getting along, but without it ever feeling sappy.  These books make me want to run and play outside, and if I could live in a book, this world would be a top-contender.  Sophie and her friends deal with themes of jealousy, fear, doubt, feeling left out, even prejudice.  But all of it is treated in an extremely light-hearted way.  I ADORE that Sophie makes her paints for her art from items in Nature.  I love that all the items in their world, from the brooms to the dishes are made with objects from Nature.  I love reading about the culinary delights that Mrs. Mouse is baking!  I love that the animals are all kind to each other.  When reading out loud to the kids, I sometimes skip over parts when Sophie feels frustrated by her younger brother wanting to tag along, but even these moments are handled in a very nice way.  These are relatively short chapter books, with about nine or ten chapters in each one and accompanying illustrations throughout.  Everything about the Sophie books is endearing–the characters, the stories, the illustrations, the plots.  My kids have loved these books from the beginning, and I definitely have too.  I look forward to reading them just as much as they do!

 

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Mouseton Abbey

Bees

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My daughter recently joined the Girl Scouts as a “Juliette” brownie.  This means, for now, she is scouting as an individual.  I’m quickly realizing what an amazing addition this is to our homeschooling.  At this point, I don’t know how long her scouting journey will last, but she is SO excited about it.  And so am I.  What a perfect program to match her age.  The badges are set up to learn and explore several different topics, and I’m a big believer in young kids not being overly committed to one specific focus too young.  It’s such a wonderful opportunity to be exposed to different interests and areas that I may not have thought to introduce.

She’s decided to start working towards her “bug patch” first, and I can’t believe how she’s taken to it.  She spent a good chunk of time yesterday creating a large poster about butterflies.  I learned a bunch of new facts when she shared it with me.  And while I’m excited to see what other bugs she decides to explore, I took it upon myself to search out some bee resources.

I was amazed at how many bee farms and shops we have in the area and how many bee resources are online for kids.

One of my FAVORITE resources has been Maddie Moate.  This woman amazes me.  She’s fun and energetic and entertaining, and her videos cover just about every topic there is.  But she has some wonderful bee videos.  You need to check them out!

Also, since writing (and forgetting to post) this, we’ve been to our local bee store several times.  (Their honey is AmaZing!)  And while they were very busy the first couple times, we happened to go back on a slow day.  The owner was so great.  She showed the kids around the supplies and did a mini lesson about beekeeping for us.

Bees are an essential part of all our lives, and we need to all be doing more to support them.  Education is the first step, and I’m so very grateful for all the resources out there, so people like me can start to learn more about how we can help.

10 Ways for Kids to Help Bees

One Flower Project

Bee Activity Sheets

More Activity Sheets

Wings of Life (various short videos)

National Geographic Kids (2:03)

World Honeybee Day (3:36)

Great Sunflower Project (1:18)

Picture Books:  Bee Books

Bear Snores On

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Bear Snores On (2002)

written by Karma Wilson
illustrated by Jane Chapman

This is one I’ve had memorized for years, because we read it so often to our first-born.  Sometimes books with rhyming texts just don’t quite work for me, and sometimes they completely click.  This one flows so well.  More and more animals gather in a big bear’s warm den while he sleeps through a blustery night.  They make snacks and chat, but the bear continues to snore on.  Of course, his slumber is eventually disturbed, and he is not a happy camper.  But all ends well with cozy treats and tales.

This is definitely one of my favorite picture books.  Great for a bedtime read or a winter read to a little one, but I think any age will enjoy the sweet story, natural rhythm, and darling pictures.

 

The Goose Girl

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The Goose Girl (2003)
by Shannon Hale

I love Shannon Hale‘s books.  My first book of hers was The Princess Academy, and I remember the lovely way I felt after reading it and seeing there was this other Shannon Hale book out there called The Goose Girl.  And, for some reason, I resisted looking into it right away.  Unfamiliar with the fairy tale it’s based on, my mind started making up stories about what the book was about before even cracking the cover.  The Goose Girl is an incredible book (of course) and (lucky for the reader) the first of a series of four!

The Goose Girl is based on the Grimm’s fairy tale of the same title.  Doing my best to sum up the novel here– Anidori is a princess in Kildenree, but is arranged to marry a prince from a neighboring kingdom to avoid war.  On her three-month journey to Bayern, she is accompanied by many guards and her lady-in-waiting, Selia.  As they near Bayern, things start to shift.  Selia begins acting strange and a good majority of the soldiers seem to break off into Selia’s “group,” while a small number remain loyal to Princess Ani.  Selia’s plan is to show up in Bayern as the princess, instead of as the lady-in-waiting, since nobody there will know otherwise.  There is a mutiny in the forest, and Ani makes a close escape.  She spends months working as a goose girl in Bayern while she tries to figure out how to convince the king of the truth and stop an impending war based on false information from the false princess.

There is everything in this book–adventure, danger, humor, friendship, romance, courage, and so much more.  It definitely has some “darker” parts, so I’d be cautious of recommending it to too young a reader, but if you or your reader is ready for it, I can’t recommend The Goose Girl highly enough.  This last read of it was a re-read for me, and I could not stop turning pages.  I’m so excited to re-visit the rest of the Bayern books!