These Bees Count!

by Alison Formento, Sarah Snow (Illustrator)

Overview

A 2013 Skipping Stones Honor Award Winner
A 2013 CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

In this counting story, Mr. Tate's class takes a field trip to a bee farm and learns about bees and how they make honey.

How do bees count? The bees at the Busy Bee Farm buzz through the sky as one big swarm, fly over two waving dandelions, find three wild strawberries dripping tasty nectar…As the children in Mr. Tate's class listen, they learn how bees work to produce honey and make food and flowers grow. Bees count—they're important to us all. Alison Formento's gentle message is illustrated with Sarah Snow’s bright, realistic papercuts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807578681
Publisher:	Whitman, Albert & Company
Publication date:	03/01/2012
Series:	These Things Count! Series
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.90(w) x 8.60(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	AD620L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Alison Formento grew up in Arkansas and now lives in New Jersey with her family. She's climbed trees, camped under them, and planted some! Alison is also the author of These Bees Count! and These Rocks Count!

Sarah Snow is a collage artist who combines found papers, acrylics, and watercolors. She has also illustrated These Bees Count! and These Rocks Count! Sarah lives with her family in New York.

Editorial Reviews

A 2013 Skipping Stones Honor Award Winner
A 2013 CBC/NCSS Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People

"The adventures of this multicultural class of kids are sure to interest readers, and Snow makes it easy to identify and count the items in the pictures. After learning all about how bees count, readers will be counting on Mr. Tate's class to give them another environmental armchair trip."—Kirkus Reviews

"Formento's fresh, crisp digital images bring visual variety to the message about the importance of bees in food chains."—Publishers Weekly

"With a light, informative narrative and pleasant digital-collage artwork, this picture book offers an engaging introduction to bees."—Booklist

"The collage illustrations are a delight, featuring an inviting landscape of fields and flowers…The sense of texture in the pictures is palpable to the point that one is almost surprised to find that the paper is flat and smooth."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher

K-Gr 2—As with This Tree Counts! (Albert Whitman, 2010), the title of this book has a double meaning. Mr. Tate's class is visiting the Busy Bee Farm. After they are safely garbed in their protective gear, they are taken on a tour by Farmer Ellen, who explains how bees make honey and how important they are in making food and flowers grow. The narrative has an easy conversational flow that maintains interest while providing a wealth of information. The book continues with the literal counting portion as the bees fly out to do their work: "One by one, we zip up high,/buzzing through/the bright blue sky." The collage illustrations are a delight, featuring an inviting landscape of fields and flowers and a multi-ethnic cast of children. The sense of texture in the pictures is palpable to the point that one is almost surprised to find that the paper is flat and smooth. An informative author's note includes information on CCD (Colony Collapse Disorder), a problem currently plaguing beekeepers. Pair this with Laurie Krebs and Valeria Cis's The Beeman (Barefoot, 2008) for a bee-utiful storytime.—Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

School Library Journal

Formento and Snow successfully collaborate again (This Tree Counts! 2010) as the environmentally aware Mr. Tate takes his class on a field trip to Busy Bee Farm. As in their previous text, counting has a dual purpose, with "1, 2, 3" taking a backseat to education. This time, Farmer Ellen helps the children suit up in beekeeping gear, then teaches the class about bees, apiaries and pollination. She encourages the children to listen to the bees' buzz about their work: "We find three wild strawberries bursting with sweetness. / Four apple blossoms tickle us with soft petals." Readers learn along with the class how bees transform nectar into honey and how that honey is extracted. A final author's note goes into more detail about the vital importance of honeybees to agriculture, as well as telling readers more fascinating facts about bees, including their dances, their hierarchy within the hive and the jobs they do. A final paragraph mentions colony collapse disorder. The digital look of the illustrations detracts slightly, catching readers between the nature theme of the text and the rather sterilized artwork. Still, the adventures of this multicultural class of kids are sure to interest readers, and Snow makes it easy to identify and count the items in the pictures. After learning all about how bees count, readers will be counting on Mr. Tate's class to give them another environmental armchair trip. (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews