Thursday, July 7, 2011

Book Review: Bombus the Bumblebee

Way back in the 1930's, a French entomologist stated that according to the laws of physics, the bumblebee should not be able to fly.  What I've always heard to follow that is that, fortunately, nobody ever told the bumblebee that.

This adorably cute children's book involves someone (well, someoneS -- a group of honeybees) telling Bombus (the scientific name for bumblebee) that he can't fly.  He's too big, he's too awkward, he's too clumsy.   Bombus, naturally, listens to their arguments, and he can no longer fly.

Why can bumblebees fly?  If you go googling it (yeah, I'm a nerd.  I did.) you can find scientists giving convoluted explanations involving aerodynamics or the amount of helium in the atmosphere or whatnot.

I, however, choose to believe the story in this book.  Bombus can fly because God told him he could.
"I shall speak to the honeybees," said God in a voice that shook the tops of the highest hollyhocks.

"But you, Bombus, listen to me." Bombus listened VERY carefully.  God said, "I told you to fly.  No matter what your shape or weight, you can fly because I gave you flight.  Now, lift up your wings... and FLY."
This book is great.  First, there is the story with charming and realistic illustrations (the flowers especially!)  One deal-breaker in my family with bug books is inaccurate pictures.  So many children's books about insects try to make the bugs so cute, and they end up with eight legs (or four), or they end up with multiple body segments.  This book is one I can hand to my mother, and she could read it without breaking into a lecture, starting with, "Actually, real insects..."

But after the story, there are a couple of pages of facts about bees that even my entomologist-teen found interesting.  And then there are some ideas for discussion starters on topics like teasing and bullying and on self-esteem.  But wait, there is more... there are also three pages of activity suggestions.  We'll be trying some of these soon.

Meanwhile, I need to grab my nearest little one, and read this story again.


Disclaimer:   I received this book for free from New Leaf Publishing Group.  No other compensation was received.  The fact that I received a complimentary product does not guarantee a favorable review.  


1 comment:

Rodna Allman said...

This looks so cute! You always have things on here that I never even saw on the New Leaf site. lol

I'll have to look into getting this book for the kiddos.