In the Trees, Honey Bees!
Dawn Publications
Rhyming Nonfiction Picture Book
Illustrated by Cris Arbo
ISBN-10: 1584691158
ISBN-13: 978-1584691150
Short, simple rhyming words and phrases, printed in large type on realistic illustrations, describe the amazing life cycle of the honeybee. The vibrantly colored scenes center on a beehive hidden in a tree trunk and the grass and gardens surrounding it. Brief paragraphs in a smaller font provide more information about the insect’s depicted activities. Arbo’s incredibly detailed, lifelike close-ups of female worker bees performing the jobs through which they rotate during their short lives greatly enhance the text. Two pages of information about honeybees are appended. . . . A wonderful choice for sharing aloud, Mortensen’s finely crafted book makes a solid addition.
—School Library Journal (July 2009)
In the Trees, Honey Bees brings us a close-up look at the lives of honey bees in a nice new oversize paperback edition. Lori Mortensen’s text dances neatly between a very simple rhyming text for younger readers (“Sisters fly / through the sky”) and more in-depth prose notes explaining the science involved. That back-and-forth makes In the Trees, Honey Bees an ideal book for kindergarten and early-elementary schools. Cris Arbo’s big, bright illustrations are in the spirit of fine old botanical prints, lovely . . . At the back of the book is more text, detailing “the buzz about honey bees,” including the facts that only nine out of 25,000 species of bees make honey and that field bees “forage for blossoms up to three miles away.
—Boston Globe – Liz Rosenberg (March 22, 2009)
Simple rhymes and striking full-bleed illustrations introduce the daily lives of honeybees to very young readers and listeners. Arbo’s detailed paintings show vistas of a bucolic farm visited by oversized honeybees, glorious flowers and close-ups of a hive inside a tree. . . .
—Kirkus Reviews (March 15, 2009)
Here is the ideal introduction for preschoolers and early elementary children to insects that are not only amazing but also critically important to humans. Inside-the-hive views of a wild colony of honey bees offer close-ups of the queen, the cells, even bee eggs. Simple verse will engage a young child, while sidebars with fascinating information satisfy the somewhat older child. Parents, teachers, and interested children will enjoy much more information about both wild and domestic hives in the back of the book. The detailed art shimmers with life, highlighting each hair or grain of pollen on the bees. A wild hive in a tree in her own backyard served as a model for the artist!
2012 California Readers Collection Winner
2010-2011 FL Reading Assoc.’s Children Book Awards Nominee
2010 Skipping Stones Honor Award Winner
2010 NSTA/CBC Outstanding Science Book K-12 Winner
2009 Silver Moonbeam Children's Book Awards Winner
2009 IWLA Book of the Year Award Recipient
2009 iParenting Media Awards for Outstanding Product
Gold Mom's Choice Award Winner
Dawn Publications has provided the following activities that relate to
In the Trees, Honey Bees.
Click on the activity name to download:
A Time to Dance- In this movement activity, students learn how to communicate like bees – through dance!
Bee Tales- Student’s write a story about a bee’s adventure leaving and returning to the hive.
Beewax Candles- Students study honeycomb structure by making candles out of beeswax.
Busy as a Bee- Students learn about the different tasks bees attend to in order to help the hive.
Draw a Card- A fast paced card game that teaches students how honey bees interact with their environment.
Flower Power- Students create several bookmarks depicting bees interacting with their environment.
Flying High- Students create a bee mobile and discuss how individual behaviors affect the survival of the entire colony.
Home, Sweet Home- Students create a honey bee hive and discuss how the hive helps the colony survive.
Sunrise, Sunset- Students create a placemat that shows what bees do during the daytime, and what they do at night.
Sweet Treat- Students discover how to make honey butter and discuss how bees make honey and how beekeepers harvest it.
