Honeybee Rescue by Loree Griffen Burns: a review and personal connection

 

Genre:  Nonfiction, all ages

Source:  I purchased a copy

Review:

This is a wonderful book about rescuing bees.  The man who found bees in his garage was a beekeeper. He noticed the bees and realized that one of his hives had split. That means when a hive gets to big to support all of the bees, the queen and half of the bees leave and find a new home.  The man called in someone who specializes in bee rescues.  Being a beekeeper doesn’t mean if you find a swarm somewhere that you know what to do to capture them and put them in a box. Most beekeepers do not rescue bees. If you would like to know more about bee rescues then read this book. If you would like to learn more about bees, then read this book and check out the references in the back of the book.  This is a nonfiction picture book that people of all ages will enjoy.

Personal Connection:

I found out about this book through Kate Messner's introduction of guest authors for Teachers Write. Since she doesn’t charge anything for the three weeks of writing lessons, she asks that we consider supporting  the authors by purchasing their books.  I try to do this every year. I usually purchase books for middle grades and young adults since I teach eighth graders.  When I saw this beautiful picture book I knew I had to have it. 

 You see, about seven or eight years ago my husband started keeping bees. It started with being invited to a bee club meeting to learn about bees. Then he bought his first hive of bees.  From there it escalated.  Not only does my husband keep bees, he rescues bees like Mr. Nelson in the book. Some of the best honey we have ever gotten has come from hives he has rescued.

The house I grew up in had honey bees living in one of the walls. Every year we would have someone come out and smoke the bees out, and every year they were back. I now know why that happened.  When we sold the house to move to Florida the living room wall bowed outward. Honey was seeping through the wallpaper.  I was afraid of those bees, because every time I mowed I would be attacked.

When my husband started keeping bees in the backyard I wanted nothing to do with them. I would sit in our yard swing and watch him. He started telling me what he was observing. I started going closer and closer to the hives until one day he mentioned that I didn’t seem to be afraid of the bees. He was correct. I had lost most of my fear. I soon learned how much I enjoyed them when I was sitting in our yard swing reading, while he trimmed a bush. When he tossed a branch away a group of bees flew out. He quickly got a box, put a couple of waxed frames in it. He tried to find the queen. I walked over with my camera capturing it on video. He suddenly pointed out that the hand I was capturing in the video was my own. I had stuck my fingers gently into the midst of those bees and was moving them aside trying to help him find the queen. He found her and put her in a queen clip, and put the clip inside the box.  I stood amazed as I watched the bees walking right into the box because they could smell her pheromones. I have not participated in any bee rescues. I have on occasion gone with him and watched him remove a swarm with his bee vacuum. I am constantly asking him questions, buying him books and even talking to my student about bees. This is a great way to teach anyone about bee rescues.

Why It's Important to Read With Your Child

 

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/parents-teaching-girl-read_8218054.htm#query=parent%20child%20reading&position=30&from_view=keyword&track=ais

Reading to or with your child is important at any age. Near the end of this school year I had a parent come to me and tell me she wanted to pick my brain about getting her daughter to read over the summer. I teach middle school and this young lady was getting ready to enter high school.  Let me give you a little bit of background on this family.  I had daughter one five or six years before I had daughter two in my class. They were polar opposites.  Daughter one devoured books. In the classroom she would often lead discussions about books or texts we were reading.   Daughter two was very compliant, but made it clear she just didn't really like to read. Her older sister tried to help her. She would recommend and pass on books she thought her younger sister would enjoy. I watched daughter two spend over a month with a book. I asked her if she enjoyed it and she told me no. I asked why she had forced herself to continue reading it and she told me because her sister said it was so good. Here are some things I had to teach this young lady and maybe they will help you.

First, make a list of things you like, or things you think you would like to read about. This young girl liked reading about real life things. That is why she thought she would like the book her sister had recommended.  Then she said she liked books where there was some drama in it. Drama could be in the form of bullying, friends fighting, small beginning romances (teen issues not sex related).  

The second thing she said to me was that she hated books that were too long. She was a slow reader and felt it would take her forever to read a book.  That was another issue with the book her sister had given her. It had taken her a month and she lost interest.  I took the information she had given me and pulled eight to ten books from my shelves. Some of them I told her I had not yet read. She picked the book Red Kayak by Priscilla Cummings. The next thing I did was asked her how long she wanted to take to read the book. I told her to give me the exact number of days. Then I pulled out my little sticky tabs  (this is just one of the types I use). The book has 224 pages. She wanted to read the book in 14 days.  This meant she would need to read at least 16 pages a day. I put a tab every 16 pages give or take.  If a page didn't end with a period or was one or two pages from the end of the chapter then I moved the tab. I had created this system with my own daughter who was a reluctant reader. I do this when I have multiple books I am reading to review and have a deadline. It is an accountability piece for me, as you can see from my book below.

Not only did this young lady read the book in less than fourteen days, she talked to all of her classmates about it. To read it,  I actually had to take the book home the day she returned it so I could give it to the next kid who wanted to read it. She had talked to me about the book as she was reading and kept telling me I had to read the book.

Teaching kids how to pick a book they might like, and when it is okay to abandon a book is just one part of making a reader out of a reluctant child. Showing them how to break a book into manageable chunks helps.  The next step was easy. I told the parent, who wanted to keep the reading going over the summer to discuss with her daughter what book they could read together. Then I told her to schedule a time once or twice a week that they would discuss what they liked or didn't like about the book. I encouraged her to go to the library or the bookstore with her daughter so they could choose their next book. 

So what prompted me to write this post?  I read this post from "Everyday Reading"  in this post she talks about how to move from picture books to chapter books with your children. I realized very few people think about or realize that for reluctant middle school and even high school kids, there are strategies to help them transition as well.

Resolved by Kandi J. Wyatt

 

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy

Source: I received a copy to facilitate my review. The opinions expressed here are my own.

 

This fifth book in the series is awesome. There is no doubt that this author is a master of world building. There is also no doubt that she has created a series that makes you yearn for the next one.  We find Siobhan in charge of the kingdom, as in queen. The Dragon King has not returned.  Mairead their young daughter has grown up learning how to fight, just as her mother did. But now, those who have tried so hard to destroy her kingdom have ramped things up.  Siobhan must put her own life on the line if she is to save her kingdom. A new threat to all, and everyone she holds dear is on her doorstep. We see the tension between the one the Dragon King charged with taking care of Siobhan and Siobhan. You can tell that they love each other, yet she doesn’t know if she should.

I loved her daughter Mairead as she is just as stubborn and forceful as her mother. She trains to fight. She questions her mother about her father. Siobhan has withheld the information from her for many reasons. The excuse she gives is that she will tell her when she is older.

You must read this book to find out what happens next in this wonderful series.  As far as I’m concerned she can’t write them quick enough for me.