UnBEElievables: Honeybee Poems and Paintings

In this high-spirited and lyrical homage to bees, smudgy paintings that resemble a child’s chalkboard drawings pair with collage elements to tenderly anthropomorphize the insects. “I’m a lover of clover./ A seeker of scent./ A zigzag flyover—/ A thing heaven-sent,” announces one bee, hovering over a daisy. The queen bee appears in a jeweled crown and pink robe, holding a mobile phone: “My doting daughters feed my belly,/ And I was raised on royal jelly.” Florian also includes descriptions of bee behavior (“One of bees’ most important roles in nature is a process called pollination”), which add a touch of biology to his tableaus. Ages 5–up. (Mar.)