My eldest girl is on a honey kick. Well, it’s really a bear kick. Throughout the day she will ask me for just a lick of honey, because baby bears need to eat lots of honey. I figured this is a good time to reread The Bee Tree by Patricia Polacco.

The Bee Tree opens with a little girl, Mary Ellen, complaining to her grandpa that she doesn’t want to read today. She would rather run. Her grandpa announces that today is a great day to find a bee tree, and together they capture a few bees in a jar. Carefully, they let one bee out at a time, chasing each bee until they cannot find it any longer, and gather a whole parade full of neighbors along the way.

Finally, they arrive at a bee tree! After celebrating with the neighbors and harvesting some good honey, Grandpa and Mary Ellen go home. Inside, Grandpa takes a book and spreads a little honey on the cover, inviting Mary Ellen to taste it. The words inside, he says, are just as sweet as the honey from the bee tree.

This story is engaging for even very young children, full of beautiful illustrations and fun characters. I also appreciate the ending moral. Literature is sweet! Reading is sweet! The love of reading is a precious gift to pass to our children.

I do not own The Bee Tree, so this time around we watched a read-aloud on YouTube. It was a fun change of pace! Instead of spreading honey on a book, I let my girl have a spoonful while we listened to the book together.

Suggested activities:

Watch a video about bees and how they make honey. Next time you take a walk, watch out for bees and try to watch where they fly to!

Talk about your child’s favorite books, and consider sharing any books that you particularly loved growing up. Grandpa says that he learned about how sweet books are from his father and grandfather; maybe your parents or grandparents would like to share a story with your child too.

Have a tea party, big or small. Include honey, special drinks and snacks—don’t forget a storybook!