Book Descriptions
for Kaia and the Bees by Maribeth Boelts and Angela Dominguez
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Kaia is happy to tell her friends everything her beekeeper dad has taught her about bees and how important they are, talking as if she's a beekeeper, too. But in truth, she's afraid of bees. Her secret is out the day she panics in front of her friends when a bee lands on her. Enough, thinks Kaia. Telling her dad she's ready, she dons her child-sized beekeeper suit and accompanies him to the hives on their apartment rooftop. In spite of her fear, she's soon holding a frame full of bees. They're fascinating! Then her glove gets wet; she takes it off and...ouch! When it's time to harvest the honey, Kaia still doesn't want to return to the hives after being stung. Instead she helps in the kitchen, pondering the wonder of sweet honey coming from such tiny creatures. When she sees two bees inside the kitchen window, she realizes that maybe they aren't out to get her after all. Maybe they just want a way out. In this engaging, honest account, biracial Kaia (her dad is Black, her mom appears white) still finds bees scary, but also "amazing," and "mysterious." She'll go on the roof again, she tells her dad, because bees are worth it, and now "something inside me is .... brave." (Ages 4-7)
CCBC Choices 2021 . © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2021. Used with permission.
From the Publisher
The author of Those Shoes and an award-winning illustrator team up for the story of a girl who tries to overcome her fear of bees to see how amazing they are.
Kaia is the brave type. Like hottest-hot-pepper brave. But there is one thing that scares her: BEES! And right now, thousands of bees live on her roof because Kaia’s dad is a beekeeper. Her dad says that the world needs bees and that’s why they are beekeepers. But only he goes on the roof, not Kaia — unless she can find a way to be the brave girl she always says she is. Against a sunny city setting, author Maribeth Boelts and illustrator Angela Dominguez depict Kaia’s small courageous steps — and her tiny insect neighbors — with great empathy and charm. Buzzing with storytime potential, Kaia and the Bees is an honest and relatable tale about bravery and compassion, as well as the importance of bees to our world.
Kaia is the brave type. Like hottest-hot-pepper brave. But there is one thing that scares her: BEES! And right now, thousands of bees live on her roof because Kaia’s dad is a beekeeper. Her dad says that the world needs bees and that’s why they are beekeepers. But only he goes on the roof, not Kaia — unless she can find a way to be the brave girl she always says she is. Against a sunny city setting, author Maribeth Boelts and illustrator Angela Dominguez depict Kaia’s small courageous steps — and her tiny insect neighbors — with great empathy and charm. Buzzing with storytime potential, Kaia and the Bees is an honest and relatable tale about bravery and compassion, as well as the importance of bees to our world.
Publisher description retrieved from Google Books.
