The beehive by Megan Daley and Max Hamilton

The Beehive, written by well-known and highly regarded Queensland teacher librarian and author Megan Daley, is a wonderful narrative non-fiction picture book about a young girl called Willow who shares her love of native Australian stingless bees in an engaging story.

At Willow’s school the Nature Club has its own hives that are carefully looked after by Groundskeeper Tom who has amazing knowledge about all things bee related. He spends time sharing his wisdom with the students and educating them about how to care for the bees by providing the perfect environment. When the hives are to be divided, students are able to take home a hive and finally it is Willow’s turn. The divided hive is placed into a man-made environment, the timber OATH (Original Australian Trigona Box), and taken to Willow’s home where the bees settle into their new environment.

Throughout the story fabulous facts are presented about bees, with a change in font to differentiate from the narrative. Key words such as brood comb, foraging, resin and propolis are highlighted and can be found in a glossary at the end. There is also an index included. The simplicity of both the glossary and index will provide children with a gentle introduction to these two valuable components of a non-fiction text. The beautifully presented and highly detailed illustrations by Max Hamilton perfectly complement both the story and the facts.

As a new publication for the Nature Storybook Series from Walker Books Australia, The Beehive offers young readers (and adults) a valuable opportunity to learn some fascinating and important facts about bees. This delightful book will have a place in all home, school and public libraries.

Themes: Native Australian Stingless Bees, School, Nature Club, Facts, Environmental Issues, Narrative Non-fiction, Nature Stories.

Kathryn Beilby