University of Cambridge: Secrets of Bees: A Kid's Guide to Hives, Pollination and Electro-Sense (Think Big)

By Author / Illustrator

Ben Hoare, illus Nina Chakrabarti

Genre

Environment & Nature

Age range(s)

Publisher

Nosy Crow

ISBN

9781805133186

Format

Paperback / softback

Published

03-04-2025

Synopsis

Big ideas for curious minds are simply explained in this fascinating book about the secrets of bees.

Bees are incredible! There are so many different kinds found all over the world, from honeybees to diggers, leafcutters, and even meat-eating vulture bees. Discover how a bee's eyes see the world in a unique way, how bees pollinate plants, how they communicate with a waggle dance, and how without bees, the world would be a very different (and much less wonderful) place.

The first in a new series of illustrated single-subject STE(A)M books for children aged 7-10, exploring some of the universe's most fascinating subjects. Created in consultation with Professor Beverley Glover and Dr Sally Lee of the Cambridge University Botanic Garden.

Written in accessible, bitesize chunks and filled with bright, colourful illustrations on every page.

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Reviews

Jane

University of Cambridge: Secrets of Bees (Think Big) is a fantastic book. It is on trend both visually and topically at a time when pollinators are under threat, and Ben Hoare makes it very clear that bees are hugely important for human food production.

Moreover, he shows us how awesome these little creatures really are, explaining firstly what a bee is, how diverse a group they are, and what they eat, before moving onto a fascinating range of other topics related to their lifestyle and lifecycle, sensory powers, social structures, habitats and even why they have stings. By the end of the book, readers as young as five or six (if shown the book) would have no doubt why we need these charming insects.

The hope - of the author and his learned advisors (both named at the beginning) - is that they, and older children who can read the book independently, will be persuaded to help bees survive in one of the suggested ways, for example by offering sugary water to one that's sluggish, or nagging grown-ups not to use weedkiller.

World Bee Day is, we learn, on 20th May, an event which gives any primary school librarian, Science teacher or Eco School Lead a golden opportunity to read aloud some excerpts or do a display.

I shall certainly be recommending Secrets of Bees whole-heartedly. It is bright, it is colourful and it is important. It is also well bound and produced, and has a useful Index and Glossary.

32 pages / Reviewed by Jane Rew, school librarian