Thank You, Bees

by Toni Yuly, Toni Yuly (Illustrator)

Overview

“Nature's gifts are recognized and celebrated in this minimalist picture book that links gratitude with life itself.” — Kirkus Reviews

Clouds bring the rain that makes puddles to splash in. Sheep give us wool for our sweaters and hats. The honey that sweetens our bread comes from bees (thank you, bees). With spare, repetitive text and bright, torn-paper collage artwork, this picture book gives even the youngest readers a subtle sense of how everyday things are related — and inspires an appreciation for life’s simple gifts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781536211689
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	03/10/2020
Pages:	28
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 8.10(h) x 0.60(d)
Age Range:	2 - 5 Years

About the Author

Toni Yuly is the creator of the picture books The Whole Wide World and Me, The Jelly Bean Tree, Cat Nap, Night Owl, and Early Bird. After many years as a librarian, she now dedicates herself to designing, painting, and writing all day. She lives in Bremerton, Washington.

Editorial Reviews

Nature's gifts are recognized and celebrated in this minimalist picture book that links gratitude with life itself...Appreciation is emblematic in this attractive and uncomplicated narrative that may also serve as a nondenominational bedtime prayer for the very young.
—Kirkus Reviews

Despite the simplicity of text and artwork, this book delivers a powerful message about appreciating the environment and its gifts and the interconnectedness of the ecosystems.
—School Library Journal

With sparing text and paper-collage art, this is a perfect little book about appreciating life’s simple gifts.
—Red Tricycle

Yuly reminds readers of the importance of appreciating the natural world...Brief enough to hold even a toddler’s attention, this will suit story hours ranging from Thanksgiving to Earth Day.
—Booklist Online

This is an exuberant book about some everyday gifts from the natural world and a lighthearted way to express gratitude for them, with words that are easy, charming and important to say out loud now and then: “Thank you, bees,” “Thank you, trees,” “Thank you, Earth.”
—Washington Post

From the Publisher

07/01/2017
PreS-K—A child offers thanks to the sun for giving light, to bees for honey, to sheep for wool, to clouds for rain, and, ultimately, to the planet: "Earth gives us our home. Thank you, Earth." Short sentences with the refrain "thank you" accompany Yuly's equally minimalist mixed-media illustrations. Despite the simplicity of text and artwork, this book delivers a powerful message about appreciating the environment and its gifts and the interconnectedness of the ecosystems. VERDICT Pair with Todd Parr's The Earth Book or Britta Teckentrup's Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book for a nature-themed storytime.—Yelena Alekseyeva-Popova, formerly at Chappaqua Library, NY

School Library Journal

2017-06-05
Nature's gifts are recognized and celebrated in this minimalist picture book that links gratitude with life itself."Sun gives us light. / Thank you, sun. / Bees give us honey. / Thank you, bees." So begins the chain of connections between resource and product. Sheep give wool, clouds give rain, trees give wood, and dirt gives plants, all depicted with bold, figurative images created in digital collage with ink, tissue, fabric, paper, and wood and set on double-page spreads. Fuzzy, torn-paper edges combine with natural textures to reinforce the organic nature of these connections. Large black lettering alternates statements indicating the various gifts with simple thank-you's. A pale-skinned child guides readers through each concept, depicted eating honey, wearing a wool cap, happily standing in a rain shower, perched in a wooden treehouse and then planting a tree, and eating a carrot. Finally, the child is seen peacefully asleep in bed after thanking Earth. "Earth gives us our home. / Thank you, Earth." Appreciation is emblematic in this attractive and uncomplicated narrative that may also serve as a nondenominational bedtime prayer for the very young. (Picture book. 2-5)

Kirkus Reviews