The Bumblebear

By Author / Illustrator

Nadia Shireen

Genre

Adventure

Age range(s)

Publisher

Penguin Random House Children's UK

ISBN

9781780080154

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

05-05-2016

Synopsis

Norman is a bear. A bear who LOVES honey.

According to Norman, there can never be enough honey; he needs to get his paws on more, more, more!

And who has the most honey? The bees, of course!

So, dressed up in his very best bee onesie, he thinks he looks quite convincing as he infiltrates Bee School with his eye on their huge honey supply.

But how long will his disguise last? And when the hive is endangered, can he finally discover his true destiny and become. . . The Bumblebear?

Reviews

Another lovely story of fun and friendship from Nadia Shireen. Bumblebear tells the story of Norman the honey loving bear who decides to pretend to be a bee in order to get more honey. In this story, Norma soon realises he loves being a bee and the Bees love the giant bee Norman. All is going along 'buzzingly' until clever Amelia uncovers his secret identity and blows his cover to all the other Bees. Having been expelled from Bee School, Norman realises how much he like being a Bee and the bees realise they miss Norman. A happy ending prevails though when Norman saves the colony from a fierce bear by pretending to be the giant bee again scares the bear off and all the bees welcome him back as the Bumblebear. This is a super story to read with pre school and early years and would also be enjoyed by KS1 children. It would cover the themes of friendship, being different, and be a good circle time story. For any schools doing work on the current plight of bees, this could be a good little hook story to use with all ages. Picture book / Ages 3+ / Reviewed by Marie Berry, teacher.