Official Review: Honeybee Reads Time by Jeanette Vuuren

[jcheiser]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Honeybee Reads Time" by Jeanette Vuuren.]

---

Share This Review

---

Honeybee Reads Time by Jeanette Vuuren is a wonderful teaching tool that teaches analogue time and the life cycle of bees. I think that the way this book is set up, the focus can be shifted to suit many different teaching purposes. It can be used to teach analogue time, the life cycle of bees (egg, larva, nymph, pupa, adult), the ranking of bees (queen, drone, worker, adult), or vocabulary (with word repetition; there is even a list included of vocabulary words that are “high frequency” or used a lot throughout the book).

Because of all of the different ways this book can be used, it makes it useful for children of many ages. The book is labeled for “ages 3-5” and I think this is just right. It could possibly even be used for 6-year-olds, perhaps even stretching to 7-year-olds, because of the life cycle and ranking of bees being included. However, older children may not enjoy the other aspects of the book (analogue time, word repetition, and the illustrations).

The illustrations, by Sudipta Dasgupta, are amazing and perfect for the intended audience. The bright colors and images would certainly be attractive for children in the 3-5 age range. Plus, the illustrations of the stages of a bee’s life are wonderful; they show distinct differences that would make the stages easy for children to comprehend and remember (and even enjoy). The illustrations also show differences between the queen bee, drones, and worker and adult bees. Another aspect of the illustrations that I love, and that I think is very creative, is that in a section of the book that is more dedicated to time, there are flowers on the page corresponding to the time (one flower at one o’clock, two flowers at two o’clock, and so on). The book also ends with bees going to sleep, and snoring (with little z’s over their heads, that remind me of the buzzing sound bees make when they fly – something children in this target audience are sure to enjoy).

This book is a complete package as a fun, interesting educational tool. It is part of the Clever Minds Series (this book is volume 7 in the series), and if the other books are anywhere near as wonderful as this one, I would buy the whole series (and I don’t have children).

I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. It’s absolutely wonderful, and I will certainly be recommending not only this particular book, but the series of which this book is part of, to anyone and everyone I know who has and/or works with children in this age range.

***
Buy "Honeybee Reads Time" on Amazon