The Beehive
An amazing look into the native stingless bee, the heroes of pollination, from celebrated teacher librarian and author Megan Daley and CBCA Award winning illustrator Maxine Hamilton.
It's finally hive day! Willow has been waiting all year for groundskeeper Tom to split the school's native stingless beehive in two so she can take home her very own hive. Everything needs to be just right to help so that the bees forage and thrive in their new home.
The dual text results in a charming story alongside an abundance of fascinating facts about Australia's native bees.
Creators
Megan Daley is a Teacher Librarian and has been awarded the Australian Teacher Librarian of the Year from ASLA and the Queensland Teacher Librarian of the Year, as well as the national Dromkeen Librarian’s Award. A former national vice-president of the Children’s Book Council of Australia, Megan is also a regular literary judge, curator of 2023 Brisbane Writers Festival Word Play program, a workshop presenter, the creator of the popular website Children's Books Daily and co-creator of the Your Kid's Next Read podcast.
Max Hamilton is an award-winning illustrator, graphic designer and most enthusiastically a maker of children’s books. She enjoys noticing the little details in things, loves to get lost in the world of illustration and stories, and through her art aims to raise awareness of the importance of protecting our Australian fauna. Max lives in Sydney with her partner, two young daughters and a couple of guinea pigs named Dumpling and Noodles.
Reviews
Fun, informative and factful, The Beehive is a true deep dive into the world of the Native Stingless Bee… And evokes fascination and wonder and a desire for children to perhaps acquire a hive of their own.
Kids Book Review
Highly recommended.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.
ReadPlus
Everything in this story is beautiful, with a unique voice that shines on the page, dancing its way around each word and image as the story and facts come together to create a book that readers of all ages will enjoy and find engaging. It is also bright and colourful, exactly as a book about bees should be as it celebrates nature and the natural world, and what it can give us. I loved that it spoke about how important bees are whilst also being entertaining and accessible, ensuring that the layers of understanding are there for a wide range of readers.
The Book Muse
Delivered in a bee-rilliant combination of narrative and non-fiction (indicated by different fonts), The Beehive offers a captivating insight into the remarkable world of native stingless bees and is sure to have everyone buzzing about some of nature’s hardest working insects…A joyous celebration of the natural world that is worthy of the the phrase, ‘The bee’s knees’.
A Word About Books
The illustrations are clear, simple, and informative and complement the text perfectly, making this an important and enjoyable resource, not only for the home library but also for the school library. For ages 5+.
Readings
