The story of the life cycle of the honeybee written at two levels of understanding on each frame. Good for interactive learning with each other. Loved it!
The illustrations by Yukari Mishima are very busy and quite accurate.
Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to everyone, but especially to a school or your local public library!
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected proof on Adobe Digital Editions from Familius via NetGalley. Thank you!
Avail Mar 11, 2025 #TheyWork by @June_Smalls @Familius Yukari Mishima illustrator #AnimalLifeCyclesSeriesBk4 @CBCBook @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial @barnesandnoble @waterstones ***** #Review @booksamillion @bookshop_org Ages 3 and up @bookshop_org_uk @childrensbookcouncil #Nature #Nonfiction

They Work is a nonfiction picture book about the life cycle of bees. The book starts with the Queen Bee and describes the duties of worker bees and drones. Bee tasks include cleaning the nursery and gathering honey.

The illustrations are beautiful, but the text lacks continuity. It was unclear if all the worker bees do all the tasks, such as cleaning, helping the Queen, etc., or if they do these tasks at different times in their life cycles. Illustrating the bee's life cycle and it's functions during this lifecycle would be helpful. Bees get too old to do chores at a certain point, but what happens to these bees is unclear.

This is a beautiful book, but it needs more coherent prose.

What a beautiful book! I was immediately captivated by the illustrations, and Smalls' descriptions enhanced the experience. Smalls describes the natural world with concision and precision, offering a snapshot of how animals function. Here, we meet the bees and explore their world. I love bees, I loved this book, and I will be getting hard copies for my friends with kids and for my own kids!

Super educational but it was very traditional in the way it conveyed the knowledge to readers. This book might be good for school aged kids doing research rather than it being a book for engagement.

A great introduction to bees with a focus on the different jobs bees do within the hive. The visuals are clear and interesting, with enough information to keep young readers engaged.

The artwork in this book is absolutely beautiful. The text is too small for the page sizes. I felt the imagery to be geared towards kids but the text was a bit too advanced and reads clinically, like a textbook. It would be so sweet to have the information presented in a way that appealed towards a younger crowd. My kids loved the photos and learning how honey is made, but I’m not sure how much they grasped.

The artwork in this is fantastic! It so realistic looking and the bees are adorable. I also learned a few things while I was reading this book.

This is a beautiful publication. The artwork is stunning, a piece of art actually. It's a pity that at some places it is at the expense of legibility. Here and there the letters are too small, the copy is on the illustration or it is written in yellow.
This book gives a very detailed and interesting explanation on bees and how they live and work. It was a bit complex to my 6-year-old, but 7-8-year-old nature lover kids will definitely enjoy it.

This book is a gem for children to learn about honey bees, their life cycles, and their importance to our environment. The artwork is stunning and beautifully complements the information. My boys were fascinated and found it easier to understand all the facts through the beautiful illustrations.

I also learned a lot about honey bees, which shows how educational this book is for all ages. Given the declining honey bee population, this book is crucial in teaching kids about the life of a honey bee.

Overall, it’s a fantastic and important read. 10/10.

Well written factual book.
This book goes through the lifecycle of bees and how they progress through jobs to keep the hive going. Illustrations help the story and are clear. There are simple sentences for each 2-page spread along with more detail that could be skipped with children who have a shorter attention span. Well written, factual, and beautifully illustrated.

Age: 1-4th grade
Audience: school library, home library, classroom independent reading

This honest review was given in exchange for a NetGalley advanced reader ebook copy.

A fantastic book for children to understand honey bees, how they live, and how they help the environment we live in. There is a lot of great information to go with the beautiful artwork in this book. My husband and I both learned a lot that we didn't know about honey bees as well. This is such an important book at this time in our history with their numbers dwindling year after year. Honey bees play such a crucial role in our farming and agricultural industry. 10/10

What a great book about our lovely little bee friends. I love bees, they're such an underrated part of our world, and I love how this book informs you all about their lives and jobs with beautiful artwork to bring it all together

This is an awesome book. That lays out exactly how bees are born and do their jobs. The illustrations are fantastic and so very detailed.

Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me to read this great arc.

Such a sweet book. Read this to my 2 year old as she has a cold and she loved it. Informative but fun for a little one. We both loved the illustrations!

Thanks the NetGalley for the e-arc!

Beautifully illustrated non-fiction book about bees. I particularly liked the feature of using large font size for the main idea on the page, but also a paragraph of smaller text that gave additional details that readers could enjoy. Will definitely purchase for my library.

Fascinating story detailing the many roles of bees in a colony. Fun facts accompany each page. Delightful illustrations will keep children interested.

They Work is a beautifully illustrated picture book about honeybees. Each two-page spread has a couple sentences of larger text, and a paragraph or so of smaller text. The larger text could easily be read alone for younger kids, while the smaller text provides more detail for older kids. My kids enjoyed the story and learned a lot! However, the ending made no sense and felt abrupt.

Thank you to Familius for gifting my family with an ARC to review! All opinions are my own.

I loved this picture book about the life of honeybees. I learned so much! There was a good balance between text and pictures. The illustrations throughout the book were absolutely beautiful. I'm not sure if there is a good way to end the book, but the ending felt sort of incomplete. That being said I would definitely buy this book and I hope that it will be available in libraries. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced reader copy.

Wonderful non-fiction books that covers the life of bees from larvae to the end. Kids will no doubt enjoy learning about all the different jobs that a bee has over their lifetime as well as the many things that they are capable of. This is definitely more of a reading together book I believe for the younger ones as their are a lot of words per page, however I believe 2nd grade+ should have little trouble reading it alone. It would be a great source for any project on honeybees as well.

They work is a beautiful nonfiction book by author June Smalls about the lives of honeybees.

I thought this book was beautifully illustrated. I love how the main story and small facts about honeybees on each page! Though the main audience for this book is children, I was able to learn some new things about honeybees as an adult. This book does a wonderful job of mixing educational and fun! I recommend this book if you or a child in your life are a bug or bee lover!

Thank you to Netgalley and Familius for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review!