After the loss of NaNoWriMo, it did not take the Crowvus writers long to realise how much we relied on this structured routine for our writing. For me, November had become the only time I was guaranteed to do creative writing. In fact - if truth be told - I've done very little at any other point of the year. Consequently, we decided to adapt to our own interpretation: Cro(w)NoWriMo - the W is in brackets because there was some discrepancy over whether or not it should be in there. The rules were simple: Write. As November went on, the end goal changed slightly for each writer. Was it 50,000 words? Was it to write every day? Was it to write an entire book? For me, it was about finishing a book. I haven't finished an historical fiction book in ages - though I've started plenty! Now, with four more writing days left on the clock and into the final chapter, I might finally be able to lay the ghost. The story I returned to was Poisoned Pilgrimage , the book I began as a submiss...
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Honey Harvest tells us the story of a little girl who loves honey and goes on a beautifully ordinary adventure to find out how bees make honeycomb and how that is then turned into the runny honey which she loves to eat.
It’s a long-running joke in my family that I made my little sister scared of bees. As a child, I was absolutely terrified of them and used to run away every time one came near me. Of course, as Clem got old enough to play outside, I taught her to do the same thing. Oops.
I do love bees though. We don’t keep them ourselves, but we have many wonderful wild species which visit the garden, including some rare and unusual ones. Bees are little furry, buzzy proof that magic exists.
Naturally, I really love honey too. Honey on Shredded Wheat… mmm… and, recently, I’ve been reading lots about Alexander the Great so I discovered other fascinating properties of honey (if you don’t know, consider looking it up – very interesting, if slightly grisly).
Back to Honey Harvest…
…this is a book I would have loved to read as a child who was afraid of bees. The story is written in rhyme, which will appeal to the little ones. Once or twice, I wasn’t 100% convinced by the rhymes but it didn’t spoil my enjoyment of the story at all. It is a book which teaches without letting on – and children will find it fascinating. One of my regrets is that, as a worldwide reviewer, my copy was an ebook so I couldn’t take it into school for my class – I think they would really have enjoyed it, and beekeeping is a branch of farming which doesn’t get covered in enough farming kidlit.
As well as the lovely story, the illustrations are stunning and absolutely perfect to compliment the words. As a child of the 1990s, they reminded me stylistically of the Usborne Farmyard Tales and that just stole my heart straight away. The “factory bees” page is absolutely adorable!
In summary, a beautiful book which will encourage little ones to explore the natural and engineering magic which goes into making delicious runny honey!
Blurb
It's late summertime in the meadow. Flowers are in full bloom and honeybees float on the warm breeze. It's now time to harvest honey from the hive.
Beautifully illustrated, this buzz-worthy book is the perfect introduction to the tools and traditions involved in beekeeping.
Social Connections
Twitter/Blog:
@lovebookstours
@igbooktours
Facebook Handle:
Scenic Route Publishing
Author's Website:
https://www.scenicroutepublishing.com/
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