Flowers Are Calling ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Flowers Are Calling
By Rita Gray
Pictures by Kenard Pak
(Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015)

Oh, dear. It is only February, but already I am dreaming of flowers!

Maybe that is because I have seen promising buds and the tips of daffodil shoots. Or maybe I feel hopeful about spring because the sun has been shining and the snow melting.

Either way, flowers are calling!

Flowers Are Calling is a beautifully illustrated picture book about flowers and the ones who are called by their color, fragrance, and shape.

Bees, hummingbirds, butterflies, and other sorts of interesting pollinators are lured to flowers for food but end up helping out flowers by spreading pollen.

Parts of this book are set to rhyme. I did find this hard to get in rhythm with, but the information and enchanting pictures kept me reading. What I loved in Flowers Are Calling was learning about the specific animals that were drawn to specific flowers. I also enjoyed learning the names and types of flowers. This wonderful book even features flowers that bloom at night! I am always in bed when it's dark outside and live in the north, so I do not get to see those pretty blossoms.

Reading about flowers in February makes perfect sense. We are ready for spring and the flowers that pop up from the ground. Plus flowers feature prominently for a special holiday that happens each February 14.

KID KANDY:

Late Winter Flower Hunt

It may be too early where I live to see much (though I have already spied pink buds), but regardless of where you live, there should be signs of approaching spring.

~ Take a walk outside and use your super sharp eyes to find signs of spring:

flower buds on bushes, grass that is beginning to get green, skinny stalks of daffodil stems peeking from the soil, crocus sprouts (maybe even flowers), moss, weeds (of course they will be growing) . . .

What did you find? I'd love to hear about spring where you live.

Remember the locations of signs of spring. Go back in a week and see what has changed.

Welcome spring!

Honeybee Man ~ Picture Book & KID KANDY

Honeybee Man
by Lela Nargi
pictures by Kyrsten Brooker
(Schwartz & Wade Books, 2011)

If you are like me and are concerned about the plight of honeybees, you will want to read Honeybee Man.

Fred lives in Brooklyn like so many other people. What is different about Fred is that he has three bee colonies (and hives) on the top of his home. All summer long, Fred visits, talks to, and watches his bees zoom to and fro, searching for flowering plants from which to drink nectar. When the hives are full, Fred harvests honey from the top of each hive and fills jars with the beautiful results of the work done by the sister bees.

Honeybee Man is a story about a man who loves his bees and the honey they make. But it is also a tale of bees and tells who lives in the hives, the jobs of each type of bee, the life cycle of bees, and the tasty treat that is found inside each hive. Readers will learn much about bees and how they create honey.

By the end of the book, you will definitely have to go have a peanut butter and honey sandwich or a cup of tea with honey.

KID KANDY:

Investigate Honeybees

Materials: flowering plants and magnifying glasses

1. If you do not have any flowers in your yard, honeybees will love it if you plant some! Flowers attract honeybees. In my yard, lavender, thyme, sunflowers, squash and zucchini, raspberries, and strawberry plants have flowers that the honeybees love to visit.

2. Holding a magnifying glass, slowly and calmly approach flowers that are being visited by honeybees. Hold the magnifying glass in front of your eyes and look at the bees. If you stay calm and move slowly, they won't mind you at all. They will just keep working.

What do you see? Can you see the body parts of a honeybee? The wings? The legs? The long tongue?

Have you tasted honey? It is super duper sweet and delicious. Try some on a spoon or spread a bit on top of peanut butter on bread. Don't forget to thank a honeybee!