Bombus the Bumblebee

If you are looking for an adorable children's book with a strong Biblical message, good writing, rich vocabulary, lovely illustrations, and a wealth of information to springboard further learning... have I got a book for you! Elsie Larson's Bombus the Bumblebee is an adorable story about Bombus, a bumblebee who learns that God designed him and made him uniquely from the rest of creation. The book opens with the Biblical creation account, specifically noting that God spoke the creation into existence and declared it to be good. As the story beings, the honeybees notice after a bit that Bombus is bigger than they are and drinks more nectar than they do. They resent him and decide to trick Bombus into thinking that he had been mistaken - the Creator never intended for him to fly! This story has a sweet message of God's loving assurance that He never makes mistakes and admonition to Bombus to fulfill what he had been created for. This book also has great vocabulary! Here are some words that your child will encounter just on the first three pages: swooping, creeping, bobbed, rumbled, clumsy, and lurched. The pictures in this book are lovely, as well!! I love the detail and the variety of creatures in the illustrations! Now, the most surprising part of this book to me was the back. After the story is finished, There is a two-page "About Bumblebees" spread, full of discussion about the unique way that God created bumblebees. Did you know that a bumblebee is warm-blooded? Or that it has fur? Or how it uses its wings to change direction in midair? After the "about bumblebees" pages, there is one full page full of discussion questions that parents can use with their children after reading this book. For example: "Has anyone ever said something that made you feel clumsy, ugly, or bad, because you are different? How did you feel?" "Have you ever acted like the honeybees? What happened?" Now, if those things are not enough, then there is an additional few pages full of creative activities to do based on this book - making bumblebees out of balloons and discussing again how they fly, making fingerprint bees and discussing how unique we all are, etc. Fantastic!

I read this book to my A.D.H.D. son before bed time tonight and I saw a stiring of compassion and understanding that I have not seen for awhile. I read the library's book and he actually said " I wish I had this book." The ideas in the back and discussion questions where the iceing on the cake. I loved that this book reinforced god as our creator at a level for kids to understand.