Reviewer Conny Withay:Operating her own business in office management since 1991, Conny is an avid reader and volunteers with the elderly playing her designed The Write Word Game. A cum laude graduate with a degree in art living in the Pacific Northwest, she is married with two sons, two daughters-in-law, and three grandchildren.
Follow
Here To Read Conny's Blog
Authors: Bonnie
Apperson Jacobs and Terri Mainwaring
Publisher: Little Five
Star
ISBN: 978-1-58985-267-9
“We’ll
z-z-z-ip across the state together, learning about Arizona
agriculture. We’ll even meet up with some members of my bee
family!” Pee Wee Bee explains in the beginning of Bonnie Apperson
Jacobs and Terri Mainwaring’s children’s book, Arizona
Agriculture: Bee’s Amazing Adventure.
This forty-page
oversized paperback targets children ages six to ten-years-old that
are interested in agriculture, especially if it involves the state of
Arizona. With no scary scenes, it would best be read out loud to
beginner readers based on some complicated wording. After dedications
and acknowledgments to the University of Arizona College of
Agriculture and Life Sciences Cooperative Extension along with the
Maricopa County Farm Bureau, the story about a bee and agriculture
ends with a glossary, curriculum guide, authors’ biographies,
information about the cooperative partners and publisher, and an
order form.
With a little honeybee the narrator of this book, the story flies the reader past honeycomb-shaped photographs and sidebars about agriculture in Arizona. With the bee portrayed on each page, farmers and ranchers are discussed, showing many important facts about the southwestern state.
As Pee Wee Bee adds comments that are funny or educational, it lightly mentions pollination, with only two pages that discuss pollen, beeswax, and products bees produce. Every few pages have a “What’s the Buzz?” column about quick facts related to the page’s topic.
Although this book does not explain much about bees in how they build their hives, select a queen, collect pollen, and make honey, its primary focus is the agriculture in Arizona. The extensive curriculum guide in the back aids teachers, librarians, and parents in reading out loud and tips to engage listeners.
With
its plethora of information, this book that is more educational than
a typical story would make a good resource for a child writing a
report on the agriculture in Arizona. Both children and adults will
learn something new about a state that is known for its cacti,
deserts, and heat.
Author Jacobs has been a teacher, media
specialist, and school principal for forty-one years. Author
Mainwaring has experience being a teacher as well as a school and
district-level administrator.
Thanks to Bookpleasures and the
publicist for furnishing this complimentary book in exchange for a
review based on the reader’s honest opinions.