Awards

Reviews

“Short, simple rhyming words and phrases, printed in large type on realistic illustrations, describe the amazing life cycle of the honeybee. The vibrantly colored scenes center on a beehive hidden in a tree trunk and the grass and gardens surrounding it. Brief paragraphs in a smaller font provide more information about the insect’s depicted activities. Arbo’s incredibly detailed, lifelike close-ups of female worker bees performing the jobs through which they rotate during their short lives greatly enhance the text. Two pages of information about honeybees are appended. . . . A wonderful choice for sharing aloud, Mortensen’s finely crafted book makes a solid addition.”

— School Library Journal (July 2009)

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“In the Trees, Honey Bees brings us a close-up look at the lives of honey bees in a nice new oversize paperback edition. Lori Mortensen’s text dances neatly between a very simple rhyming text for younger readers (“Sisters fly / through the sky”) and more in-depth prose notes explaining the science involved. That back-and-forth makes In the Trees, Honey Bees an ideal book for kindergarten and early-elementary schools. Cris Arbo’s big, bright illustrations are in the spirit of fine old botanical prints, lovely . . .”

— Boston Globe – Liz Rosenberg (March 22, 2009)

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“Simple rhymes and striking full-bleed illustrations introduce the daily lives of honeybees to very young readers and listeners. Arbo’s detailed paintings show vistas of a bucolic farm visited by oversized honeybees, glorious flowers and close-ups of a hive inside a tree. . . .”

– Kirkus Reviews (March 15, 2009)