Kaia and the Bees [Hardcover]

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.Beekeeper Boelts infuses her narrative with both appropriate vocabulary and empathy...Dominguez accurately depicts apiary equipment and practices in her friendly cartoons, and she peoples the story with a diverse cast not typically seen in kids' books about beekeeping. Kaia is biracial, with a black dad and white mom. Could be just the ticket for turning bee-phobes into beekeepers.
—Kirkus Reviews

Kids will relate to Kaia’s fear and her determination to be brave. Although she understands bees’ importance in the environment and knows that she has her father’s support, she finds courage only when she begins to consider the bees’ viewpoint. An introduction to bees emerges through the natural- sounding dialogue in this expressive picture book.
—Booklist

The book effectively evokes the physicality of anxiety (“I get twisty inside”) and respel$