A beekeeping grandpa stars in debut author Krebs's witty ditty modeled after The House that Jack Built. "Here is his jacket, / with zippered up hood / that covers his face / just the way that it should / when he visits his hives as / the Beeman." Told from the granddaughter's perspective, rhyming text introduces beekeeping equipment, processes, and the roles of each bee in the hive (including queen bee, drones, workers, and house bees). Iwai's (Hannah's Christmas, 2001, etc.) full-bleed acrylic-on-board illustrations picture adult and child in the backyard bee farm; text and vignettes-of a jacket, leather gloves, and beehive-appear in quarter-spread panels. Unfortunately, Iwai's static figures compromise the vitality of her refreshing palette. In one spread, for example, adult and child-both in bee suits-appear against a backdrop of green trees, bushes, and a sun-dappled lawn; stiffly lifting the beehive, the grandfather looks as if he's about to fall backward. Nevertheless, Iwai does a good job representing the bees; a dramatic close-up depicts "house bees" fanning the nectar in an intricate geometric honeycomb. Teachers wishing to supplement studies of community will find Krebs's debut useful for its introduction to the social structure of bee-dom; librarians will likely notice a buzz for the book around Grandparent's Day too. (Picture book. 4-8)

A girl visits her beekeeping grandfather in The Beeman by Laurie Krebs, illus. by Melissa Iwai. The text-modeled after "The House That Jack Built"-introduces beekeeping equipment and hive hierarchy, and explains the harvesting of honey ("Here are the house bees/ with swift-moving wings/ that dry up the nectar/ a worker bee brings"). (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

PreS-Gr 2-A warm, rhyming text about a relationship more than a description of a job. From the cover portrait of a slightly bemused gentleman zipped in a protective jacket to the final illustration of the man and his granddaughter enjoying homemade muffins with fresh honey, readers are introduced to the steps and the equipment involved in caring for the hive and gathering honey. Iwai's large, colorful acrylic illustrations make the setting and characters real and immediate; listeners may feel as though they are working right along with the girl and her grandfather. Bits and pieces of information are shared rather than written as complete explanations. For example, "Here is the smoker/that quiets the bees," gives no clue as to how or why. "Here are his gloves/made of cotton and leather,/protecting his hands/in all kinds of weather" makes no mention of potential stings. Those who want to understand the life of a bee would be better served by Deborah Heiligman's Honeybees (National Geographic, 2002). Krebs's book is a simple, appealing look at one beekeeping season.-Edith Ching, St. Albans School, Mt. St. Alban, Washington, DC (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

PreS-Gr. 2. Beeman takes his granddaughter to his hives, describes the types of bees there, and shows how he extracts the honey. He gives some back to the bees, then takes the rest inside to enjoy on the muffins Grandma bakes. Written from the child's point of view, the first-person text uses the rhyme scheme and rhythm familiar from «This Is the House That Jack Built» but without the cumulative refrain. The verse rolls along gracefully, giving young children a basic introduction to bees and the beekeeping process. Krebs creates a series of appealing, naive paintings of two types: small pictures that show details such as tools and types of bees and larger pictures that focus on Beeman and his granddaughter. The impressionistic paintings of trees not only create beautiful backdrops but also indicate the passage of time through the change of seasons. Teachers looking for picture books that correlate with the science curriculum will find this an attractive choice. Carolyn Phelan.

In verse that, though not cumulative, recalls the rhythms of The House That Jack Built, the narrator briefly describes his beekeeper grandfather's equipment, the roles of different bees in the hive, and the activities surrounding honey-making season. Illustrated with generally attractive if generic acrylic paintings, the book is a cheerful introduction to beekeeping. From HORN BOOK Spring 2003, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.