Update- I’ve written my own nonfiction picture book about bees and bee mimics! Find out more about A Bee or Not a Bee? here.
Did you know that the last full week of June is National Pollinator Week?
In the UK it’s known as National Insect Week. (There’s also World Bee Day on May 20th, and National Honeybee Day in August.)
These aren’t well-known holidays, but they’re a great reminder that we need pollinators.
They’re also a great opportunity to celebrate and learn about bees. Personally, we love to use picture books as a fun way to learn something new. So, I wanted to share a list with some of our favorite picture books about bees and other pollinators.
There are books about bees, books about gardening, and books about other pollinators. (Plants don’t just need bees! There are other important pollinators too.)
I’ve also included some links to coloring pages and other activities. If you want, you can use these to turn the reading list into a mini nature study.
(This post includes affiliate links. I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a small commission for purchases made through these links. There is no extra cost to use these links.)
If you want to avoid shopping on Amazon, I suggest checking Bookshop or your local bookstores instead.
Picture Books about Bees:
Give Bees a Chance, by Bethany Barton – a whimsical introduction to bees
. . . and why we shouldn’t be scared of them! This is a fantastic addition to the “I’m Trying to Love” series.
Save the Bees, by Bethany Stahl – How can we help bees? Two friends work together to make one bee’s pollination route easier as they learn how important bees are.
Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book, by Britta Teckentrup – a playful story
about a bee’s day by a phenomenal artist. We love these cutaway books, and this one is a lovely way to learn about bees.
Honeybee: The Busy Life of Apis Mellifera, by Candace Fleming, illustrated by Eric Rohman – a gorgeous nonfiction picture book. This book follows a bee’s life-cycle step by step from egg to young nurse to field hand.
Bug Hotel, by Libby Walden – a neat board book about insects, part of the Clover Robin series. This book has lift-the-flap illustrations showing the different kinds of homes that insects, including bees, live in.
Bees Like Flowers, by Rebecca Bielawski – a very simple introduction to
bees. This book’s fun, bright illustrations illustrations will appeal to younger kids as well as older readers.
The Bee Book, by Charlotte Milner – a beautiful nonfiction book about bees
full of details and cool facts. This book has lots of material for older readers who want to know everything about bees.
The Honeybee, by Kirsten Hall, illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault – a beautiful, science-based story. This book follows a honeybee’s search for flowers and pollen with simple, easy-to read text.
Are You a Bee? by Judy Allen, illustrated by Tudor Humphries – pretend that you are a bee. What do you need? How will you and your honeybee sisters find enough nectar and pollen for this hive? This book explains bees in a fun, colorful story.
If Bees Disappeared, by Lily Williams – a nonfiction book about the decline in bee populations. This book explores what would happen if bees disappeared entirely.
The Bumblebee Queen / April Pulley Sayre, illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne – a queen bumble bee wakes up from hibernation after the winter. She has only one brief summer and must hurry to build her colony.
Bumblebee, by J.V. Wilson, illustrated by Adrienne Kennaway – another fun story about a bumblebee queen. This one offers more information for older children.
Bea’s Bees, by Katherine Pryor – a spirited story about one girl’s
discovery of a wild bee’s nest. Find out what happens when her new find disappears!
The Thing about Bees, by Shabazz Larkin – a cute love letter to a child. This book describes bees and their important role in nature.
The Hive Detectives by Loree Griffin Burns, illustrated by Ellen Harasimowicz -an illustrated chapter book about bees and beekeepers. This book is part of the spectacular Scientists in the Field Series. It provides an in-depth look at the dangers honeybees face.
How Do Bees Make Honey?, by Melissa Stewart – an informative science book for independent readers. This author is a prolific nonfiction writer and one of our favorites children’s authors.
Bees: A Honeyed History, by Piotr Socha– a lovely illustrated introduction to bees. This book is full of information about bees’ lifecycles and work. It also explores their roles in different cultures throughout history.
Picture Books about Plants:
The Big Book of Blooms, by Yuval Zommer – another amazing picture book from one of our favorite authors. This book answers a wide range of questions about flowers, gardening, and pollinators.
The Reason for a Flower, by Ruth Heller – a sweet, simple picture book. This book shows a wide variety of pollinators that flowers rely on.
Flowers Are Calling, by Rita Gray, illustrated by Kenard Pak – a fun, lyrical
story about flowers. They’re calling all the animals of the forest. Who will answer and come to find the flowers?
The Secret Garden of George Washington Carver, by Gene Barretta, illustrated by Frank Morrison – this one isn’t really focused on pollinators, but it’s an excellent story about one famous gardener and scientist, and his work toward maintaining healthy soil and breaking racial barriers
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt, by Kate Messner, illustrated by Christopher Silas Neal – gardens are busy. In this close-up look at gardens, children explore all the life found there–above and below ground.
Roma’s Gift, by Brenda Lewis and Katy Brown – why does one plant look green and boring? This is a cute story about a plant learning why it’s different.
Farmer Bear’s Garden, by Chris Magee – gardening takes a lot of careful work. In this book, Little Bear helps in the garden, and then learns how to share the bountiful harvest.
Other Pollinators:
Animal pollinators, by Jennifer Boothroyd – a short beginning reader featuring eight different animals that help to pollinate plants.
Pollen: Darwin’s 130 Year Prediction, by Darcy Pattison, illustrated by
Peter Willis – learn about one special pollinator! This book tells the fascinating story about one of Charles Darwin’s predictions. In the 1860s, he described the pollinator of an orchid flower—without ever seeing the insect!
Know Your Pollinators, by Tim Harris – an encyclopedic book about dozens
of different insect pollinators. This isn’t really a children’s book, per say,
but it’s a great resource for discovering new kinds of insects.
Bees, Bugs, and Butterflies, by Ben Raskin – an intriguing look at different pollinators. It’s a longer book for older readers, and it focuses on how pollinators interact with plants.
Stellaluna, by Janell Cannon – a young bat gets adopted by a family of birds . . . but bats are not birds! While this book doesn’t address pollination, fruit bats like Stellaluna do help pollinate important plants.
Bat Citizens: Defending the Ninjas of the Night, by Rob Laidlaw – a longer,
nonfiction book for older readers. This book introduces students to different
bat species and their role in the environment.
Other resources:
Learn how to look for bugs with this blog post.
Find more books with this list of picture books about butterflies.
Find more books about insects in general.
Learn about different kinds of bees with My Field Guide to Bees
Get a unit study for homeschoolers from The MasterpieceStudio.
Plus, print and color this pair of activity pages from my book Bug, Bug, Spider!
(Feel free to share a picture of the coloring page on Instagram
after you finish it! You can tag me @kidlitandsteam, or use the hashtag
#bugbugspider to share it.)
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