The Beat Of Buzz

Several summers ago, honey bees swarmed by the hundreds gathering goodness from flowers on a particular set of bushes towering along one side of my deck.  They allowed me to get close enough with my camera to capture the golden pollen on their legs.  Watching them for hours was like a gift from Mother Nature.

In the following years the bees have diminished in great numbers.  Thankfully there are keepers of bees like Don Snoeyink of Thornapple Woodlands dedicated to their care. In his presentation at our summer reading program he fascinated us with facts about these essential creatures.  (A queen can lay more than 2,000 eggs a day in the summer!) When we learn about these marvels of the insect world on a personal level, our respect and desire to assist in the quality of their lives grows.  The King of Bees (Peachtree Publishers, April 1, 2018) written by Lester L. Laminack with illustrations by Jim LaMarche allows us to see their value by leaving a mark on our hearts.

Henry and Aunt Lilla lived deep in the Lowcountry, where South Carolina reaches out and mingles with the saltwater to form tidal creeks and marshes.  Sometimes Henry felt like the whole world ended at the far edge of that water.

Included in the landscape of Henry's world beyond his home, the garden, hen house and shed were beehives.  For the bees Henry felt a genuine affection.  He longed to help his Aunt with the bees.  She finally agreed he could watch her work.  Clothed in her bee suit, wearing her hat with a net and keeping the smoker nearby, she spoke softly to them.

Their buzzing was not a reply to her words but a sign of them working.  They danced when they had news to share.  It was the sister bees doing all the work.  Only a few boy bees, drones, were needed to help the queen make more bees.

No amount of begging changed Aunt Lilla's mind about Henry working with the bees.  He knew from past experiences patience on his part was important but one morning he went to the shed to look over the beekeeping items.  As he looked at each thing, especially the suit, he imagined talking to the bees.

Finding his Aunt in the garden they chatted about the queen, sister bee workers and the brother bees.  Henry was determined to help the sister bees.  He even practiced dancing around the bees telling them about a clover patch.  Can you guess what Henry saw among those flowers the next day?

One day unusually activity at the hives caused Aunt Lilla to leave on an errand.  Henry wanted to help too.  Doing what he had never done before now, Henry bravely spoke without words and danced.  What happened next is a story worth telling so all ears can hear it for years and years.

When Lester L. Laminack tells us a tale he brings us deep into the place and time with his lovely descriptions.  He enriches us with the personalities of his characters through the conversations they share.  In them we see the best people have to offer to each other.  In this particular narrative he strengthens our connection to nature through the bees.  Every living thing is integral to keeping balance.  Here are two adjoining passages on separate pages.

His eyes came to rest on the bee suit.  He
was certain there was something magic about
it.  He just knew if he had one of his own he
could get closer to the hives and bee-talk like
Aunt Lilla.

Henry left the shed and found
Aunt Lilla in the garden.  "How come
the brother bees don't help their
sisters?" he asked.  "Can't the king
bee make them do some of the work?"


As soon as you see the face of the boy on the front of the matching dust jacket and book case, you are intrigued by his hat, the net and the bees.  Is he the king of bees?  If he is, what makes him the king?  As your eyes move across the spine to the left a field of flowers is spread before you.  A low tree (shrub) line is behind them.  Two bee hives are in the field.  The soft earth and pastel tones used by illustrator Jim LaMarche draw us into this peaceful scene.  The title is embossed in foil.

On the opening and closing endpapers we are presented with a bird's eye view of Henry and Aunt Lilla's property bordered by water on two sides.  With a page turn at the beginning we see a close-up of clover and daisies with bees humming among the blossoms.  The sky is awash in breathtaking shades of blue with a few clouds.  On the title page a hive is placed beneath the title text.  Bees swarm from the hive on this page and across the gutter to the left on the verso page.

Each two-page picture rendered in ink and watercolor by Jim LaMarche is a beautiful and loving moment frozen in time. We are transported to South Carolina in the summer season.  We can feel the humidity in the air, hear the soft murmur of the water and the call of birds.  More importantly we hear the humming of the sister bees.

Jim LaMarche alters his perspective to heighten our involvement in the story and to accent the pacing.  Several times he brings us close to Henry.  Other times we are looking at a setting from above or as a landscape.  Mr. LaMarche's artwork is nearly photographic in its details but softened by the medium.

One of my many favorite illustrations is when we are reading about Henry's need for patience in working with the bees.  A past experience in the hen house is shared with readers.  We zoom in on Henry carrying three eggs in his hands raised up to his face.  A fourth egg is under his chin.  A fifth egg is tumbling to the straw.  Behind him in glowing hues three hens sit on their nests in their boxes.  The light and shadow and colors on Henry's face are gorgeous.  And many of us have held the same expression on our faces as appears on his.


A gentle story, The King of Bees written by Lester L. Laminack with illustrations by Jim LaMarche, is for one-on-one reading or reading to a group.  It speaks to the love of family and of nature. In an author's note Lester L. Laminack talks about the premise for this book and his lifelong attraction to bees. You could pair this with  Bee-&-Me: A Story About Friendship Old Barn Books, April 7, 2016 written and illustrated by Alison Jay, Please Please the Bees Albert Whitman and Company, April 11, 2017 written and illustrated by Gerald Kelley and The Honeybee Atheneum Books For Young Readers, an imprint of Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing Division, May 8, 2018 written by Kirsten Hall with illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault.

To learn more about Lester L. Laminack and his other work, please follow the link attached to his name to access his website.  At the publisher's website you can view an excerpt, a printable poster and additional resources.  Here is a teacher's guide they created.  The cover is revealed by Lester L. Laminack at the Nerdy Book Club.  At November Picture Book Month Lester L. Laminack talks in an essay about the importance of picture books.

El Lugar Tranquilo

Up until college I never had to make new friends or be in unfamiliar surroundings.  After graduation seeking a position lead to moving more than once; four new school districts, communities, neighborhoods, colleagues and friends.  As an adult I had to abandon my shyness letting my passion for what I do take over.  Knowing this I can understand how hard it must be for someone coming into a new country, a strange culture and learning another language when they are young.

How a child adjusts to new circumstances is dependent on support of family, their new school environment, teachers and classmates and, in some instances, the power of imagination.  At times they (we) may dream of a more comfortable spot.  In the newest collaboration by Sarah Stewart and David Small, The Quiet Place (Farrar Straus Giroux, September 18, 2012), a little girl creates her own kind of beauty in her new home.

It is mid-spring in the year 1957.  Isabel, her older brother, Chavo, with her mother and father have left Mexico for the United States to live in a city near Lake Michigan.  In a series of letters, so she can practice her English, she writes back home to her Aunt Lupita, a school teacher.

She recounts the landscape in her journey, of making snow angels in a late winter snow and how speaking and reading Spanish makes her feel safe. Understandably, she is shy at school and although her teacher does not speak her language, she welcomes Isabel with a smile.  Something wonderful happens, too.

Her father buys a refrigerator and gives Isabel the box; her own sanctuary for writing letters and keeping her books.  Even a sudden rainstorm cannot discourage her quest for boxes. Every time her mother cooks for children's birthday parties is a new opportunity to bring home one of those cozy cubbies.

Her supportive family helps and allows her creativity to flower; a single room grows to many.  Each celebration leads to another until it is Isabel's special day.  Gifts of words, the practice of writing, paint, paper, pencil and perseverance are reflected in Isabel's joyful one-of-a-kind quiet place.


Twelve letters sent to Mexico, concise, conversational thoughts filled with emotion, convey to readers the true ups and downs felt by a child trying to fit into one life while longing for her old one.  We journey with her, seeing a blending of the two worlds, past with the present.  Sarah Stewart writes as if her heart is the heart of this young girl.

Words are carefully chosen, as if done by a person learning to think, write and read in another language. A single sentence tells us Chavo has a way with words, Father is thinking how to help his daughter adapt and Mother is understanding in so many ways.  We readers feel compassion and admiration for Isabel because of Stewart's ability to say much with little.

Here are a couple of her sentences from this story.

Chavo said, "We left a sea of blue at our feet and entered an ocean of blue over our heads."

Writing to you is easier than speaking to all the new people in my life. That is because I know you love me.


David Small begins and ends this story on the book's endpapers.  His impressive ink drawings are further brought to life with watercolor and pastel chalk wonderfully evoking a captured moment.  His altered perspectives are a ready invitation; the green landscape of the Mexican village nestled beneath the mountains with a close-up looking into the back of the retreating car, Isabel squatting, elbows to knees, and gazing at the snow angel or looking into the newly acquired refrigerator box with the house, delivery men and truck in the background.

His attention to those tiny, poignant details adds much to his two page spreads throughout the book.  At the Mexican border we see Isabel extending her arm out the car window, teddy bear in hand so he can see what everyone else is seeing, or at the diner counter (1950s Formica pattern) Chavo is reading an edition of Life magazine or when we see the created quiet place, a doll is wearing the same dress as Auntie Lupita in the farewell scene.  Isabel's teddy bear can be found in nearly every illustration.

Four illustrations, in addition to the endpapers and title spread are without text but they continue the story beautifully.  The four-page fold-out near the book's end is a stunner.  Isabel's quiet place is revealed in all it's colorful, imaginative glory.  It's a tribute to her Mexican culture, her resilience and joyful spirit.


The Quiet Place written by Sarah Stewart with illustrations by David Small is a gentle, graceful, story about coming to a new country and starting over surrounded by a loving family who embrace their heritage and their new community.  I love everything about this book; absolutely everything.

If you follow this link to Macmillan  there is a mini-slide show of illustrations.  This link  to Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast shows the illustrative process David Small used for this title. There are some gorgeous drawings.

These are links to interviews given by Sarah Stewart and David Small prior to the release of this title.
To get to their main website follow the link embedded in David Small's name at the beginning of this post.

Let It Snow

What a treat to be roaming the shelves in one of my favorite book stores over our Christmas break and find Super Snow Day (Dutton Books for Young Readers, November 11, 2010) written and illustrated by Michael Garland.  This newest of his seek and find books brings warmth to those windy, chilly days of winter.

Just the words, snow day, bring a keen and joyous sense of anticipation.  That anticipation is realized when Garland begins this book with a letter to the reader from Aunt Jeanne welcoming them to look, search and keep track of winter sport symbols, titles of songs, poems and books about snow, and animal tracks as well as the animals themselves. 

Readers follow Tommy, the book's main character,  throughout the days' activities from shoveling snow, to marveling at giant snow sculptures, ice fishing, sleigh riding, walking through the wintry woods, climbing a mountain, watching a bobsled race and yes, swimming at the beach. 

Michael Garland's lively and colorful illustrations leap off the page as a visual treat to the wonder of this snowy event which makes us all feel young at heart.  At the book's end readers are asked to compare their lists with his which surprisingly enough has more goodies that need to be located---words from different languages that mean snow, six-pointed snowflakes, letters that spell Happy Snow Day and the infamous Aunt Jeanne that appears in every scene. 

Page after page of pure puzzling fun makes this a winner for seasonal lessons or the simple thrill of a new treasure hunt.