The Honeybee Man

January 31, 2011
In her children's book debut, Nargi presents a leisurely but diverting look at the life of a Brooklyn beekeeper. Readers join elderly Fred as he rises at dawn one July morning and heads to the roof to check his three bee houses. As summer progresses, Fred imagines the activity inside the hive, then carefully harvests jars of rich, sweet "Fred's Brooklyn Honey, Made by Tireless Brooklyn Bees" to share with his neighbors. Copious details are carefully woven into descriptions of Fred's day-to-day activities ("When the bees return to their hives, Fred notices that they are flying slooowly—heavy, now, with nectar"). In sunny, oil-and-collage compositions, Brooker (Math Attack!), inspired by her former Brooklyn neighborhood, captures the bustle of sidewalks and storefronts, as well as the serenity of Fred's rooftop and a green expanse of park. She also does a fine job demonstrating the steps of collecting honey—even the bees' "waggle dances." An endnote and the endpapers provide additional information about bees and beekeepers. Kids should find this easygoing blend of fiction and fact fascinating. Ages 4–8.

February 1, 2011

Tell it to the bees. The ancient art of beekeeping is alive and well in Brooklyn, N.Y. Fred is dedicated to his bees and greets them each morning on his rooftop. He has named the queens Mab, Boadicea and Nefertiti, after legendary historic figures; the bees are his "sweeties" and his "darlings." He hums with them as they swarm and flies with them in his imagination as they search for the most fragrant flowers. When the time is right, he carefully gathers their honey, jars it, shares it with his neighbors and, of course, savors some of that luscious honey himself. Nargi's descriptive language is filled with smell and sound and sight, carrying readers right up to that rooftop with Fred, while seamlessly interweaving detailed information about beekeeping. An afterword of "amazing facts" explains more about apiarists, bees' life cycles and more, all in light, easy-to-understand syntax. Brooker's oil-and-collage illustrations, appropriately rendered in greens and browns, golds and ambers, enhance the text beautifully. They accurately depict Fred's and the bees' actions while creating a stylized, fanciful view of a homey Brooklyn neighborhood, complete with a view of the Brooklyn Bridge. Even the endpapers are integral to the work, presenting labeled diagrams of bees and beekeeping materials. Eccentric and unusual with an appealing, gentle charm. (Picture book. 5-10)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

March 1, 2011

PreS-Gr 3-Although most people probably associate honeybees with fields of flowers in the countryside, Fred tends his hives on the rooftop of his home in Brooklyn. From there the intrepid worker bees fly out to gather nectar from backyard flowers and blossoming bushes. Fred follows them in his imagination, creating pictures that allow readers to view scenes inside the hives and learn about how the bees work together. At the end of summer Fred collects and processes the honeycomb to produce jars of amber honey that he shares with his neighbors. His affection for his bees is evident in the warm tones of Brooker's collage and oil illustrations as well as in the words of the sweet, lyrical text. Nargi incorporates basic facts about honeybees and beekeeping into her narrative and supplies two additional pages of information following Fred's story. Pair this with Laurie Krebs's story about beekeeping in the country in The Beeman (Barefoot, 2008) or Lori Mortensen's look at wild bees in In the Trees, Honey Bees! (Dawn, 2009) for other views about how and where bees produce honey. However, Nargi's book can definitely stand on its own for its unusual glimpse of beekeeping in an urban setting.-Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2011
Grades K-3 Inspired by two beekeepers in her New York neighborhood, adult-writer Nargi makes her debut childrens book with this fictional story of Fred, a Brooklyn beekeeper who can see the tall city buildings from his rooftop, where he keeps thousands of bees in three tiny city hives. There may be as many as 60,000 worker bees in a hive in summer, and as Fred releases them, they zip out and blaze through the city into neighborhood gardens. Then the keeper welcomes the bees back, heavy with nectar to store in their wax rooms. True to Freds viewpoint, the bright illustrations in collage and oil paint make the connections between the buildings on the skyline and the close-up views of the boxed hives on the roof, as he imagines the bees diving into the flowers in the backyard urban gardens and bringing the nectar home. The story is engaging, and even with extensive notes and diagrams at the back, readers will want more about the astonishing science.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

March 1, 2011
In the tradition of Lois Lenski's long-ago Mr. Small, Fred -- a contented bachelor -- models beekeeping in New York City's Brooklyn, a setting that adds interest to this typically rural activity. Bees constitute Fred's "enormous family"; his hives are on his roof, and even among the city's buildings they find enough of particular plants to impart the flavor of, say, blueberries. Fred's busy daily round, beginning with a cozy cup of tea and greetings for his anxious-looking dog and insouciant cat, makes an appealing frame for the main event: tending his "tiny city" of three hives. Fred imagines the bees' flight to nearby backyards, affectionately welcomes them home, and harvests enough honey to share with neighbors whose gardens the bees may have visited. Brooker enhances the book's fictive side with interestingly skewed perspectives, textured details in collage, and a cheerfully upbeat characterization of Fred himself. The accurately detailed text is nicely supplemented by clear endpaper diagrams of bees, flowers, and hives. The Honeybee Man isn't really a story, but it's an engaging introduction to a fascinating activity. A note extends the information. joanna rudge long

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)