Read an Excerpt
As Buttercup the Bee was flying, she noticed that the world was not as colorful and friendly as she remembered. She saw weeds growing instead of flowers blooming, and she saw her friends being mean to each other. There was litter everywhere. She saw that other animals were scared and upset, and they were not listening to each other. They argued and were being selfish. At first, Buttercup was sad and angry, and she was tired of all the unfriendliness. Why is the world like this right now? She sat in her hive and did not have any energy to do her work. After a few days, her friend, Bluebell, came to check on her. He said, “Buttercup, what’s wrong?” Buttercup told him why she was upset. Bluebell shared that he felt upset too and wanted everyone to be kind and happy. He then reminded her that the hive was not running well without her. Because she was not working, the hive was not making enough honey, and the other bees were suffering. Bluebell reminded Buttercup that we all need to work together if we want things to get better. Buttercup was glad that someone else understood her, and she realized that nothing would get better if she stayed in her hive. She needed to make some changes.
First, Buttercup began doing her job in the hive again. She went to collect pollen and water from the field nearby, and she cared for the baby bees by feeding them and keeping them safe. She also cleaned the hive. When she was finished with her chores, she was tired, but she felt proud of all her work. Her friends in the hive thanked her for working with them and said that she was very helpful. She felt honored that they appreciated her.
While she was getting ready for bed, Buttercup began thinking about all she accomplished and felt energized. Then she thought about what she could do outside the hive to make the world kinder and nicer. “Although I’m just one small bee, I can do things to make the world a better place,” she thought.
The next day, after doing her chores, Buttercup set off to be kind to the world around her and to see if she could make a difference.
First, Buttercup visited a neighboring hive and asked if they needed any help with their chores. The bees were so surprised and happy! They asked her to help collect pollen because one of the bees had been sick and was not able to collect enough. Buttercup gladly accepted and collected pollen for the hive.
Next, Buttercup saw two animals arguing, and she went to see if she could help. Izzy the Iguana was angry with Sunnie the Snail because he wouldn’t let her join the race. Buttercup asked Sunnie why Izzy couldn’t be in the race too. Sunnie said, “It’s not fair. She has four legs and can run faster than me. She’ll win for sure, and I’ll lose. She should just race with other Iguanas.” Buttercup then talked to Izzy. Izzy said, “I just wanted to be included.” Buttercup asked Sunnie if there was any way to include Izzy in the race and make sure they all had fun. Sunnie thought for a moment, and he then had a great idea! He said to Izzy, “We need a finish line, and you have a very long tail! Can you use your tail as our finish line?” Izzy said, “That’s a great idea!” Both Sunnie and Izzy were excited about the new plan, and Buttercup thanked them for working together to include each other rather than arguing.
While Buttercup was flying home for the evening, she spotted a dog who was crying. She landed near the dog to see what was wrong. “Hey there, what’s your name?” The dog looked up and said, “Gus.” Buttercup said, “What’s wrong, Gus, why are you crying?” Gus shared that he felt his belly growling and realized he was hungry. He said that he caught the smell of steak and realized someone was grilling. He followed the scent, leaving his yard. Before he knew it, he was lost, he told Buttercup. He couldn’t find his way back home. He was scared and lonely. Buttercup asked him what his house looked like and flew around to find it. Soon, she spotted it just down the road. She went back and told Gus to follow her. Gus did as he was told. When he saw his house, he became so excited! He barked, jumped up and down, and licked Buttercup to thank her.
The next day, Buttercup was even more motivated because she saw that her friends were happier, spending time together, and being nicer to each other. She also noticed that more flowers were blooming, and her world looked greener and more colorful! As she was exploring the neighborhood, she saw a raccoon cleaning up some trash. Buttercup said, “Hi, can I help you with that?” Rickety Rack the Raccoon was really surprised. He mostly kept to himself and didn’t have any friends. He thought that Buttercup might be talking to someone else. He said, “Are you talking to me?” Buttercup said, “Yes! I see that you have a lot of work to do, and I wanted to help!” Rickety responded, “Everybody is usually afraid of me, and no one has ever stopped to help me.” “Why is everybody afraid of you?” replied Buttercup. “Because of my purple stripes, of course! They think I’m scary because I’m different and don’t look like the other raccoons!” “I think your purple stripes are beautiful and fun! We all have things that make us a little different, but some creatures find differences to be threatening. We need to remember we are all creatures on this earth and deserve to be treated with kindness! Differences don’t make us scary, they make us unique and important to the world!” said Buttercup. Rickety smiled and the two worked together to finish cleaning up the trash.
Buttercup fell asleep quickly that night after all of her hard work. The next day, Bluebell woke her up and asked her to follow him to the field outside the hive. There were flowers and beautiful plants everywhere. All of Buttercup’s bee friends were there, along with the new friends she made, like Izzy, Sunnie, Gus, and Rickety. Then, Bluebell announced to the crowd that Buttercup was being awarded with Queen Bee for the day for learning to be kind and helpful. He put the crown on her head. Everybody cheered for her, and Buttercup was proud of herself and her friends. They worked together, and now they all had a bright and kind future ahead of them.
