Reviews: The Buzz on Wild Bees & This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake

Two children’s non-fiction books on the review docket- happy reading!

Courtesy of the kind folks at Owlkids Books, let’s start with a look at The Buzz on Wild Bees, written by Kira Vermond and illustrated by June Steube. When we think of bees, it might be fair to say that many of us think immediately of the honeybee or the fuzzy bumblebee. But what about wild bees- what are they, and how are they different from the species that we may be more familiar with? In The Buzz on Wild Bees, readers get taken on a highly educational adventure to learn all of the essentials of wild bees: what kinds of species there are- including the unusual and parasitic, from vulture bees to cuckoo bees; where they can be found; how to help save bee species on the edge of extinction; and why they are so crucial to life on Earth.

With beautiful, realistic illustrations combined with pun-tastical, comics-style sidebars of additional and unusual factoids, and clearly delineated, simple-to-follow chapters, The Buzz on Wild Bees is engrossing reading. For readers who love to learn about insects or other animal friend, or for those of us who have been utterly transfixed by National Geographic’s Secrets of the Bees documentary series on Disney+, The Buzz on Wild Bees makes for wonderfully informative and interesting reading. Back matter includes a glossary and selected bibliography for further reading.

Thanks to the kind folks at Groundwood Books, let’s turn our attention to a children’s book of poetry called This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake by Nicholas Ruddock, with pictures by Ashley Barron. Through the course of fifteen poems- starting with a spotlight on the titular tiny snake- to chipmunks, herons, hornets, and more- Ruddock’s nature-focused poetry highlights the creatures that children and their grownups see and experience (whether up close, hidden, or surprising!), as well as how we perceive and react to them. As an example, let us take a look at an excerpt from the following poem called Caterpillar:

…No longer than my fingernail, segmented, green with yellow, it looked more like a sock puppet than a caterpillar-y fellow./ I plucked it from its blade of grass and placed it on a tree, and a week ago a butterfly came by and danced for me. – excerpt from a poem called Caterpillar by Nicholas Ruddock, in This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake

Each of the poems are delightful in their descriptiveness of each animal and their respective actions; lovelier still is reading, in each poem, how the children and adults in the stories appreciate and try to treat each animal friend with care, kindness, or even distance. In the final poem in the collection, called Winter, the narrative returns full circle, with a look back at the animals we have experienced along with our narrator, right back to our tiny, fragile snake. You might recognize the wonderfully bright and lively paper collage artwork of Ashley Barron from other children’s books such as Three City Kitties, or Shy Me (written by Sandra V. Feder). Barron’s precise and detailed collages are a perfect match here for Ruddock’s poetry- lyrical yet unfussy, and naturally evocative of their subject matter. Readers interested in lyrical read alouds, books exploring animals- or perhaps in easing into some poetry!- This Is a Tiny Fragile Snake is a terrific pick.

I received a copy of The Buzz on Wild Bees courtesy of Owlkids Books, and a copy of This Is A TIny Fragile Snack courtesy of Groundwood Books, in exchange for honest reviews. All opinions and comments are my own.