What a sweet story! I teach a homeschool co-op and every year we talk about bees and their impact on our environment and our impact on them. Bea's Bees was a great addition to that study this year. I loved the way the fictional story meshed with the facts and read smoothly. I found the kids really retained the info that way.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A cute book with great pictures. A lot of great bee facts to go with the story.

A lovely children's book with charming illustrations. It has a beautifully positive message that bees are our friends and are important to life. I was lucky to grow up with a love for all animals and wasn't scared of bugs but sadly kids tend to inherit their parents' fears and parents can be quite nervous around bees. Bea's Bees tells us that bees are doing a great job. I hope it inspires new generations of gardeners and bug lovers!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for providing an advance digital copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This colourful and delightful little book introduces very young readers to the habits and environment of a bee. The text is straight-forward and easy to understand for small ones and it is nicely complemented by modern, strong artwork. It is sweet, pleasing and positively told with its bright and eye-catching colours and pretty flowers. With Beatrix (Bea) as the strong main character, this wonderful book is perfectly balanced between the story and the message it delivers.

There is a section at the back of the book explaining the things that we can all do to help preserve the humble bumblebee, as it is in danger of becoming extinct.

Highly recommended, “Bea’s Bees” by Katherine Pryor would be a great addition to a family library.

Thank you to NetGalley, Schiffer Publishing Ltd and the author, Katherine Pryor for my free ARC of this book. My honest review is entirely voluntary.

The Story:
When Bea discovers a hive of bumblebees, she begins visiting them every day until one day she visits and they’ve vanished. She learns all she can about bumblebees and makes it her mission to create an environment for the bees to return, but will she succeed?

Favourite Spread:
I’ve found it hard to pick a favourite spread because there are so many gems of humour hidden within Ellie’s illustrations – I love Bea’s school project “To Bee or Not To Bee”. These light touches perfectly balance the more serious message. There was one spread that really makes you stop and think and reflect: when Bea looks up at the silent tree that used to be home to the bumblebees. At the end of the book there are two spreads on the bees and what plants grow in Bea’s garden which are a fantastic resource to allow children to carry on thinking about the message of this book after they’ve read the story.

The Verdict:
I love this book – it has the perfect balance between story, facts, humour and message. This picture book not only shines light on the importance of looking after bumblebees but also has a diverse main character. That said, it is much more than just a message, it is a story too, one that children will enjoy reading, full of beautiful illustrations which add depth and humour.

I am very grateful to the publisher for providing me with an advanced digital copy via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I really loved this book. It's great for kids and has a great message about saving the bees. Kids can learn about how the fate of the bees can and will impact food, trees, and basic day to day life.

The art is colorful and the main character is a young girl who shows curiosity, intelligence and kindness which should reflect well on any child reading it.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advance copy!

Beatrix loves to watch the bees that buzz in and out of their hive in a tree in her local park. So when they mysteriously disappear, Bea is determined to find out what happened and bring them back.

We see how Bea first goes to her teacher, then reads up on bees at the library finally raises awareness by making her science fair project all about bees – even handing out wildflower seeds to other children to plant themselves. In more ways that one, Bea sows the seeds for change. Finally, she’s rewarded when her bees return!

I love the way this book teaches children that they can really make a difference if they feel strongly about a topic. It also presents them with a determined, intelligent, diverse female main character.

The soft, colourful illustrations nicely complement the text, showing all kinds of interesting details, such as the various steps of the scientific method written on the wall when Bea is talking to her teacher.

Informative back matter explains reasons for the bee crisis and tells readers what they can do to help. There are also names and pictures of various flowers that bees like to visit.

I love this little book! When I am looking for children's titles, the first thing I look for in a story is the lesson. This story teaches several lessons about curiosity, inquisitiveness, learning, patience, community, and hope.

The facts at the end are helpful, as well as the facts and the plan throughout! I enjoyed the illustrations, as they took care to show a caring world.

This is an excellent book with great illustrations and an important message. It would be a great addition to a study on bees providing plenty of options for discussion and further learning. I will definitely be sharing this with my kids when we study bees later this spring.

Bea's Bees is a children's book written by Katherine Pryor, and illustrated by Ellie Peterson. It is currently scheduled for release on March 28 2019. Beatrix discovers a wild bumblebee nest on her way home from school and finds herself drawn to their busy world. When her bees mysteriously disappear, Bea hatches a plan to bring them back. Can Bea inspire her school and community to save the bees? Bees provide us with valuable resources, and some types of bees are in danger of disappearing forever. But ordinary people (and kids!) can help save them.

Bea's Bees is a nice picturebook about a young girl discovering the wonders of bees, and when they goes missing doing her own research to learn about all that they do. I like that Bea's interest in bees is organic, and that she takes steps to learn more about the bees and makes an effort to make her area more hospitable for them in hopes that they will return. My digital galley, which I received via Netgalley, was missing a couple important pages. So I do not know how Bea discovered the bees were missing. I do like that the book offers some good information on bees, the good that they do, and what people can do to help them thrive. I do not like that there are unanswered questions. Was the hive Bea watching hibernating or did they die off and a new hive come and take their place? Perhaps this was hinted at or directly addressed in the pages I was missing, but it felt like more important bee information could have been woven through the story. I liked the artwork, and thought there was a nice balance of text and art to keep the story flowing and the reader's interest focused on the tale.

Bea's Bees is a good book and I think it would work well in a storytime setting or in a lower grade classroom when introducing certain topics.

This is a well done book about a young girl named Bea and what happens when she finds a bee colony/hive in an old oak tree in the park. She watches them work and fly. She notices that the bees are lively and happy collecting pollen. She visits them often, until, one day the bees are gone. She decides that she needs to find out what happened to the bees. With the help of the librarian, she discovers that the flowers they used for food disappeared. She continues her research to find out what else they need for pollen and what other plants and flowers will help. She plants flowers, and hands out wildflower seeds until there are flowers all over town. Will the bees return?

This is a wonderful book for children. So many bees and butterflies have been endangered due to the loss of their habitat, killing plants they use for food and ingesting various chemicals that have been sprayed. Children need to know what they can do to help the environment and this book is done in an inviting, friendly way. Readers/listeners will also learn about various plants and how bees need them to survive, as well as human survival. Without bees pollinating plants we wouldn’t have fruits and vegetables to eat. The illustrations were also well done with realistic scenes and likable characters. I recommend this book to families, schools and public library. The publisher, Schiffer Publishing Ltd., generously provided me with a copy of this book upon request. the rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

I received an ARC from Schiffer Kids via NetGalley.
Bea finds a bee colony in an old oak tree in the park. She watches them work and fly. One day, they're gone and she doesn't understand why. She asks her teacher and librarian for help. She discovers that the flowers the bees ate were cut off. Bea continues her research and plants flowers bees like to bring back the colony. She passes wildflower seeds to everyone at the science fair too. Soon flowers bloom all over town. The bees and the butterflies return.
Informative text at the end of the book about bees and a lovely chart of flowers they like.
The text is difficult to read in this electronic ARC version but am hopeful that will not be true once published.
Pryor presents a relatable young woman who cares about the bees. Readers can connect with this portion of protecting the earth and broaden their own thoughts.
Illustrations realistically present the park and other scenes.

What a wonderful read! Not only will this book be an inspiration to my budding young scientists, it will also serve to alleviate the fright and stress they may feel about bees.
In a clever manner, the author informs her readers about bees as pollinators and the purposes they serve. The book promotes their interaction with helping the environment. The illustrations are so colorful and inviting.
It is instructional and entertaining at the same time.
I

I loved this book. The illustrations are simple and pretty and don't distract from the story. It can be used as a nice story or be delved into deeper by bringing awareness to the children that we need to protect our open spaces and flowers so that we can keep the wildlife alive. It is the start of simple conservation talk and I think would work really well.


I would use this book in school with children aged 3-9 years old as I feel like they would all take it on different levels and it is very flexible.


I will be adding a more detailed review on my blog on 14th March 2019 but can move it earlier if requested.

Great kids book. Lots of interesting facts and information about bees. Wonderful illustrations. Fun to read with kids.

I really enjoyed this book. This would be a great addition to school libraries where kids are learning about pollinators and the importance of bees. Little ones might not understand everything but it would be a great intro to this important environmental topic.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great picture book for introducing the importance of bees as pollinators to young readers. It's a story about a girl who visits a bee hive to watch the bees and then one day they are all gone. She's curious where they went and wants to do anything she can to bring them back. So, armed with library books and research she tries to help the bees so they will return.

A simply wonderful story of little Bea and her quest to bring the bees back. They have left after someone cut down their flowers. So she does her research, creates a school project and starts to bring the bees back to her tree. We need more books like this. It will be in a favorite rotation in my library for a long time to come.

What a fabulous book with a very important message. I will be purchasing this book and making extra sure to plant some weeks flowers in the garden. My son (nearly 3) loved the story.

This is nice story with delightful illustrations about the importance of bees. Bea discovers that the bees in her neighborhood are disappearing, so she decides to do something about it. I like that this book gives practical steps in what a kid can realistically do to help the pollinators of our world.

At the back of the book, I love how the flowers are labelled with their names.