Busy Buzzers

May 1, 2004
K-Gr 3-Short paragraphs of large, bold print briefly describe several outstanding physical and behavioral characteristics of honeybees and moths. An insert in the shape of a magnifying glass offers additional facts-in small print-on most of the spreads. The simple texts are clearly written, for the most part, and most of the facts provided are logically organized. Exceptions, however, occur in Night Fliers. For instance, the sentence on the first page that reads, "Moths are like butterflies of the night" may confuse children who are as yet unfamiliar with either insect-the page comparing the two doesn't appear until the end of the book. A later section discussing some moths' feeding habits is oversimplified. The stylized, digitally prepared illustrations in these introductions have definite child appeal. Strong, clean lines define the basic shapes of the insects as well as the flowers upon which they depend, and all of the spreads are suffused with color-muted shades in the backgrounds and mostly primary colors in front. The appendixes focus on a particular aspect of the featured insect and include more miscellaneous facts plus a suggested activity. Joyce Milton's Honeybees (Grosset & Dunlap, 2003), aimed at about the same age level as Busy Buzzers, offers more information on anatomy, behavior, and life cycle and has more realistic illustrations. Linda Glaser's Brilliant Bees (Millbrook, 2003), which also covers the same material, provides a bit more information on hive building and honey making and contains realistic, close-up drawings of the bees.-Karey Wehner, formerly at San Francisco Public Library

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