Be A Friend! Begin with a Bee by Liza Ketchum, Phyllis Root, and Jacqueline Briggs Martin

WHAT'S INSIDE THIS HOLE IN THE GROUND?

ONE QUEEN RUSTY-PATCHED BUMBLE BEE WAITING ALL WINTER LONG.

While in their winter coats animals make their way through the snowy woods above, a future queen bee sleeps quietly, resting up for the coming season's work.

AND HERE'S THE WONDER: HER TINY BODY, NOT EVEN AN INCH, HOLDS EVERYTHING TO CREATE A WHOLE COLONY OF BEES. . .

When the earth begins to warm and seeds to sprout, that one bumble bee creeps up to the surface, spreads her new wings, and flies forth, looking for nectar and pollen to sustain her and the perfect place to make her nest--her colony's nest, where she deposits a lining of wax for the nectar and pollen, lays her eggs and sits on the nest. She shivers as she sits to make heat so that her eggs will hatch and become the larvae which she will feed until they grow into the female workers for her summer hive.

SOME WILL CLEAN THE NEST.

SOME WORKERS FLY TO FIND NECTAR

AND POLLEN TO FEED THE QUEEN.

And late in summer the Queen lays eggs that will turn into male bees and next year's queens, if all goes well.

Autumn and then winter comes. Leaves and seeds fall, flowers and bees die, except for next year's queen...

SHE WAITS FOR SPRING....WITH EVERYTHING SHE NEEDS...

A trio of noted writers, Liza Ketchum, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, and Phyllis Root provide the lyrical but factual narration for Begin with a Bee (University of Minnesota Press, 2021), a picture book that celebrates the beauty of the cycle of life represented by one tiny bee, the earth that supports it, and the bees and other insects that are so critical for the pollination of plants that provides for all life on earth. Artist Claudia McGehee's adds thick black line scratchboard illustrations, in which the trunks and limbs of the woodland trees form Gothic arches, support this reverent view of nature's wonders.

Says Kirkus Reviews, "The real queen in this colony is the striking artwork." A prime purchase for school and public libraries.