Review - Give Bees a Chance

Give Bees a Chance
by Bethany Barton
Date: 2017
Publisher: Viking Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book non-fiction
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

From the author-illustrator of Children's Choice Book Award Winner I'm Trying to Love Spiders: a plea to please give bees a chance!

Not sure whether to high-five bees or run away from them? Well, maybe you shouldn't high-five them, but you definitely don't have to run away from them. Give Bees a Chance is for anyone who doesn't quite appreciate how extra special and important bees are to the world, and even to humankind! Besides making yummy honey, they help plants grow fruits and vegetables. And most bees wouldn't hurt a fly (unless it was in self-defense!).

Bethany Barton's interactive cartoon-style illustrations and hilarious narrator mean this book is full of facts and fun. With bees officially on the endangered animals list, it's more important now than ever to get on board with our flying, honey-making friends!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I wish I'd had this book when I got stung by a bee when I was a kid. It might've helped to alleviate some of my fears about being stung again.

Despite the illustrations being quite stylized, they're also informative. Readers get to see the basic anatomy of a bee. There are also illustrations and little blurbs about various species of bee at the front and back of the book. The "story" is told as someone trying to reassure their friend who got stung by a bee once and now wants nothing to do with them (except for eating their honey). Even the process of how honey is made is explained, which may make some kids give it up forever. Who knew honey was regurgitated through a number of bees passing their barf from mouth to mouth? Tasty.

The book makes some good points about bees disappearing and how this is a bad thing. After all, they're super pollinators, and we depend on them for a lot. Readers are encouraged to plant bee-friendly flowers, which might not seem like much, but every little bit helps.

Hard-core vegans might not like this book because it doesn't explicitly tell kids not to eat honey (although, a few will probably avoid it after learning how it's made). But the rest of the message is strong and should resonate with a majority of readers. Bees are a necessary and important part of our ecosystem, and we should be doing everything we can to protect them. Books like this are definitely a step in the right direction. (I see that the author already has a similar book out about spiders. I'd love to see her do some other titles about misunderstood and feared/reviled creatures; sharks and snakes could make some interesting additions to such a series.)

Quotable moment:

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 4/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.83 out of 5