Beehive

by Jorey Hurley, Jorey Hurley (Illustrator)

Overview

Acclaimed author Jorey Hurley shows us how bees make and store honey in this bold and graphic picture book that includes informative backmatter on the process.

With just one word on each page and the vivid illustrations Jorey Hurley is known for, Beehive showcases the cycle of bees making honey. Detailed backmatter further explains this fascinating natural process.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481470032
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date:	01/07/2020
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	708,715
Product dimensions:	9.80(w) x 10.00(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Jorey Hurley studied art history at Princeton, received her law degree at Stanford, and studied design at FIT. She worked as a textile designer for Hable Construction in New York City and is now based in San Francisco, where she lives with her husband and their two small children. Nest, her debut, was called “stunning” in a starred review from School Library Journal. Fetch, her second book, was called a “delight” by Publishers Weekly in a starred review. She is also the author of Every Color Soup and Skyscraper. Visit her at JoreyHurley.com.

Jorey Hurley studied art history at Princeton, received her law degree at Stanford, and studied design at FIT. She worked as a textile designer for Hable Construction in New York City and is now based in San Francisco, where she lives with her husband and their two small children. Nest, her debut, was called “stunning” in a starred review from School Library Journal. Fetch, her second book, was called a “delight” by Publishers Weekly in a starred review. She is also the author of Every Color Soup and Skyscraper. Visit her at JoreyHurley.com.

Editorial Reviews

12/23/2019

Hurley’s signature style—single, carefully chosen words paired with illustrations notable for their sophisticated minimalist aesthetic—illuminates wild honeybees. Beginning with the “buzz” of a lone bee over a field of lilac-hued blooms, this spare story, told mostly in images, wends its way as the bees “swarm” and “explore,” “find” a tree to “build” a hive where the queen can “lay” eggs. After they “feed” the larvae, which become “grown,” and “fly,” the story shifts into “collect” and “pollinate” before the bees must “guard,” “sting,” and “keep” their ultimate creation: “honey.” Hurley’s author’s note cleverly uses these same words in a fuller narrative explaining their occurrences. Hurley’s clean-line pictures—egg-shaped dots in orange hexagonal cells; yellow-and-black bees perched in flowers’ centers, collecting orange pollen—clearly illustrate each concept, offering an appealingly simple introduction to a beloved insect. Ages 3–7. (Jan.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 01/01/2020

PreS-Gr 2—Taking a complex idea and breaking it down into a picture book is a difficult task. Here, Hurley describes the extraordinary lives of bees through spare, succinct language and intriguing art. The first spread shows a bee in a flower meadow. If there is anything children know about bees, it is the buzzing sound they make. Right away, readers have something they already know that they can hang new information on. More bees in the next spread are described in a word: "swarm." These spreads are ideal for sharing with young children, whether on a lap or in a group. Readers learn that bees explore to find the perfect place for a hive, which they then build as a team. Eggs are laid, nurtured, and grow. Here viewers need to look closely. How does this spread show "grow?" Looking carefully, one can see tiny bees emerging from cells in the hive. Pollination is covered as is the lengths bees go to in defending their hives. This engaging book is a full-fledged story of a creature that is an integral part of the ecosystem, and how they survive. This is a great starting place to talk about how all life is part of one world. The author's note at the end expands on bees and their importance in the natural world. VERDICT This is a must-buy for all libraries. It's an appealing introduction to science, ecosystems, and how even the smallest of creatures can matter enormously to our lives.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA

School Library Journal

2019-08-26
Hurley applies her trademark minimalist approach to a spring-through-fall sojourn with a colony of honeybees.

The text has but 15 words, one per double-page spread: "buzz / swarm / explore / find / build / lay / feed / grown / fly / collect / pollinate / guard / sting / keep / honey." Muted, matte illustrations depict the action: The swarm flies above early-summer flowers till the bees happen upon a hollow tree, where they establish their hive. The queen lays eggs; workers feed the larvae. The metamorphosed adult bees collect pollen and nectar from tangerine-colored fall blooms and defend the hive from a marauding skunk in order to have honey enough to last the winter. For all the graphic simplicity of Hurley's images (gardeners will be scratching their heads as to the specific types of some of these flowers), her depiction of bee behavior is accurate. She takes considerable artistic license with the depiction of the hive in unrealistically exposing it within the enormous hole in the tree's trunk, but the device allows readers to see a curtainlike pane of wax comb within and takes a visual stand against the all-too-common erroneous depiction of a beehive as a wasps' nest. An author's note fills in the narrative conveyed by the illustrations, the words of the text helpfully printed in uppercase so that caregivers can expand on each spread for curious listeners.

Simple, beautiful, surprisingly accurate. (Informational picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews