Cover Image: It Starts with a Bee

It Starts with a Bee

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Member Reviews

A rhythmic book on bees. The illustrations are beautiful and children would be interested throughout the story.

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I received an arc of this title from NetGalley for an honest review. A gorgeous book about how so much starts with one little bee.

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This story is a rhyming adventure on a bee’s life from spring through summer and fall. It shows how bees help grow gardens and make nature a beautiful tastier place. At the end of the book there are infographics about different types of bees and what they do and why they are important. Overall, this book really works the illustrations are lovely watercolors and I think kids will enjoy it.

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Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to receive an advance copy in exchange for my honest review -


Beautiful I lustrations, and easy Low impact amounts of info-
Not too overwhelming, but not too “baby” for my 7&9 year old. We all enjoyed it!

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I received an advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via netgalley and the publishers.

It Starts with a Bee is a beautiful little gem of a book! Told in poetic verse, this book teaches of the cycle of the bee from winter (hibernating) through the seasons and what they do. The illustrations are delightful and so detailed for little learners. This book teaches about pollination and how the bees have such an important job within the food chain. The last two pages have further information shown as a chain. This is a great book to share with children in an educational setting and at home.

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A beautifully illustrated picture book perfect for preschools and homeschools.
I read this with my four year old, who loved the pictures and took time to point out things she recognized from our own yard. This is the perfect book for a unit on spring, bees, flowers for a preschool or homeschool classroom.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy!

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This rhyming picture book tells the sweet tale of a busy bee who makes her way through the seasons, beautifying the world and helping produce fruit. With sweet and charming illustrations, the bee works in the wild garden, helping it come to life. Along the way, the reader is treated to a variety of flowers and insects to discover. After following her journey, we are treated to a 2 page spread providing further information on types of bees and the pollination process.

We all loved the illustrations and the simple sweet story of the bee. This picture book is a nice introduction to pollination and spring for preschoolers and early elementary learners. The whole thing was just beautiful and as light as a breath of spring air.

*Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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A true delight. It Starts with a Bee is written in beautiful rhyming poetry and tells the story of the bees and their interaction with the world around them. It's stunningly illustrated and a perfect Spring/ Summer read. Although the publisher recommends 5+ I would be happy to read this to younger children and I feel they'd thoroughly enjoy the lyrical style of verse. At the back there is a great section on different types of bees and pollination. The perfect book to find out a few facts if you've been intrigued by the secret life of bees! Highly recommend from us.

Thank you to Quarto and NetGalley for eARC.

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It Starts with a Bee tells the story of a bee's life from spring to fall. In rhyming couplets, the bee's journey begins with waking from hibernation, seeking out plants to pollinate and people enjoying the flowers and fruit the bees help grow. There is a page at the end of the book that describes the different types of bees as well as gives information about pollination and how bees help make fruits like apples ready for us to eat. The artwork in the story is beautiful, especially all of the detailed flowers. While this book reads like a story or poem, it is filled with important information. As a grade 3 teacher I could definitely see this book being part of my unit on plants or as part of lessons about taking care of our planet and protecting bees. It is a fabulous book and I would definitely recommend it to parents and teachers of children in the age 4-9 range. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book!

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This is a glorious book. The illustrations will entice any child to want to find out more about the life of bees. Why are they important? What do they do? With natural rhyming text that flows beautifully, this book will captivate and educate readers of all ages.

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Perfection. The drawings are rich and beautiful. The story is concise and informative. Probably too much for a toddler but perfect for like a preteen.

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It Starts with a Bee is a wonderful book by Aimee Gallagher and Jennie Webber A book that gives information on the work of bees in a format that has lovely illustrations with a text that is flowing but simple. It goes through the seasons beginning with winter which was quite unexpected. Many children may be somewhat fearful of bees but after reading this book they will see them as irreplaceable helpers in our great big, wonderful world.

I read the book with a first-grade granddaughter to get her perspective too. Shae rated it 5 stars because she especially loved the information on different kind of bees at the end of the book. The text is such that she could read it independently with difficulty with only a few words. Foe me, I loved the lyrical flowing of the text when read aloud. Both of us discovered new information which is unusual in a book for young children. What could that be, you might be thinking? Did you know in winter bees all face in the same direction while huddled in the hive? Well, they do and right off this book told you how and the direction that they do. I had never heard or read that before. So learn something new about bees in this lovely book today for young children but older folks will enjoy reading it too.

The publisher through Net Galley provided a digital ARC. I have voluntarily decided to read and review, giving my personal opinions and thoughts.

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5☆ A Superb Picture Book about Bees!

It Starts with a Bee is a fantastic children's picture book, that teaches Children all about 🐝 Bees and why they are so incredibly important.

I absolutely loved this story the illustrations are superb with so many little details, such as various birds and Butterflies, children will not only learn about Bees but they will also learn about nature!

This is such an important book and it's so vital we teach children about nature and how and why we need to protect Bees 🐝.
The writing style is simple and very effective, I also loved that at the end of the book there is a section about pollinating and about different Bees and their role.

This book would make a Beautiful Gift, I can also see it being in schools as a teaching aid to help younger children learn.
Overall I highly recommend It Starts with a Bee 🐝


Thank you to Quarto Publishing and Netgalley for this copy which I reviewed honestly and voluntarily.

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It Starts With A Bee is a beautifully illustrated picture book with poetic text that shares the beauty of the busy bee and the world it lives in.

Nature lovers will adore this realistically illustrated picture book with its' busy little bees and gorgeous flowers and other lovely sceneries. It highlights a day in the life of a bee, from the hive to the garden and back, from season to season, and shares their most important qualities and the impact they have on our world and the things we eat!

We loved how this book made us feel like we were right in the garden alongside the buzzing bees!

Includes a fantastic page about 'the process of pollination' at the end of the book!

Many thanks to the publisher for the chance to read this beautiful picture book!

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This is a beautiful little book. "It Starts with a Bee" is the perfect book for small kids that are afraid of bees. It explains what bees do and how we should respect and protect them. It's a great way to show them that they will not hurt you as long as you leave them alone and let them do their job.

Thank you Netgalley for giving me an ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

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What a beautifully illustrated book with an important message..The author conveys the importance of bees in an easy to understand and engaging format.

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It Starts with a Bee is a beautiful non-fiction book. Aimee Gallagher wrote a sweet text in rhyme describing the journey of a bee. Starting at the beginning of Spring, the bees explore the garden and all the flowers and trees. Jennie Webber’s illustrations are beautiful : bright and colorful, they reflect how alive a garden is at Springtime.

I love how this book focuses on several types of bees and how different their homes can be : we can spot bumblebees, honey bees, carpenter bees and digger bees in the illustrations. Their differences are explained at the end of the book, as well as the process of pollination.

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The content of this book is simple, but perfect for littles! We really loved the gorgeous waterpaint illustrations! We have a lot of flowering plants for pollinators in our yard and many bees frequent in the spring when they are in bloom, so my children really enjoyed tracking the bee's journey. Due to the conciseness of the actual story, I enjoyed that the last two pages at the end of the book provided a bit more in depth descriptions for children. Fun book and perfect for a botany/wildlife lesson or simply for a child who enjoys reading about the subject!

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Thanks to QEB Publishing for a free digital copy.

I love a rhyming picture book and this one was especially sweet (get it? bees=honey!), but this book isn't about bees making honey, but rather the important role bees play in the pollination process. I think this is a great spring read for our little outdoor observers to help them know what role different things play in the flowers they enjoy and the fruits they eat.

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"They fill up their saddlebacks bulging and pollon-y, then quickly buz back to return to their colony."

I received an ARC copy of this book from NetGalley. This book was extra special to me as my grandfather is a beekeeper. In simple ways this book explains what bees do and why they are important. The illustrations were to die for, so beautiful! This is a book I will be purchasing a hard copy of for our children's personal library.

My five year-old said that his favorite part of the book was the page with the spider web on it. I then asked him what he didn't like and his reply 'The words.' (ha-ha, kids)

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