Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
With its digital art and low-impact narration, Roode's debut may seem fluffy, but it's a solid choice for very young readers. The spreads unspool from left to right as Little Bea (she's a bee) plays with a family of ducks ("Now we're going to chase you, Little Bea!"), helps Beaver gather pears ("Come back for pie tomorrow!"), and pulls carrots in Rabbit's garden. Roode's computer-generated images are highly stylized; it's a Teletubbies kind of world, with flowing green hills, a smiling sun and moon, and crisp-edged flowers and trees, which are given slight depth with gradients. The text is full of sounds ("Pitter. Patter. Drop. Drip. Drop"), internal rhymes (" 'One, two, carrots for you!' Munch, munch, crunch. 'Thank you for lunch, Little Bea' "), and the simple pleasures of knock-knock jokes and games of "duck, duck, goose" and "peekaboo" (" 'Peekaboo! I see you!' 'I see you, too,' says Deer"); there's reassurance and contentment throughout. Friendly, fuzzy creatures abound; the lives of characters who live in a tightly knit community of friends they see and enjoy every day is a satisfying theme. Ages 2-5. (Apr.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-This slight story lacks a narrative thread, and the cloying, greeting-card art fares no better. A bee gets up in the morning and has a series of random interactions with other animals, who are delighted to see her. Eventually, evening arrives, the Moon comes up, and Little Bea goes to sleep. "Good night, Little Bea. Bzz. Bzz. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz." The encounters with each animal appear page by page with no transition from one to the next, and children are likely to be lost as Little Bea jumps from one episode to the next with no apparent reason. Readers have the sense of looking through someone's snapshots with no one to explain why the pictures are meaningful. The computer-enhanced full-bleed art stylistically marries greeting cards with cartoons. All of the characters are cutesy stuffed-animal look-alikes. Libraries are filled with wonderful picture books on character interactions and their small adventures. Save room for more good ones, and pass on this offering.-Amy Lilien-Harper, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Morning dawns, and Little Bea (a bee) begins her busy day. She playfully greets her friends--a butterfly, owl, duckling, beaver, and others--until sundown signals the time to go to sleep. Animal sounds (bzzz, chirp) add some interest, while word repetition helps with pacing in this story where nothing much happens. The digital illustrations, though synthetic-looking, have some appeal. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
