Author Biography

Claire Winslow is a writer, editor, and aspiring beekeeper. She has written many books for children, including We Are the Rainbow! The Colors of Pride. She lives in Chicago, where she plants flowers on her balcony and welcomes every bee that visits.

Review

Bright and appealing, this book shows the plight of a bee whose habitat, Big Tree Hive, has been destroyed by human development and who desperately needs to find a new hive. There are fictional elements, such as the bee's name (Beatrice) but children will also learn a great deal as they read.Beatrice is a scout bee, whose job is to find a new hive. The pages which show her searching unsuccessfully are dull and brown, with the built-up environment apparently offering no possible home. Everything is over-crowded and inhospitable. Then she finds the perfect place - a colourful, wild garden built on a roof, 'bursting with tasty blossoms', designed for bees, with a hive ready and waiting. Beatrice leads the way to their safe new home, Big Sky Hive.Unobtrusively, Claire Winslow shows something of bee hierarchy and behaviour, including their impressive ability to share directions and instructions. She explains to children the threat to bees' habitat, and the helpful steps that people can take, even in an urban environment. She then expands upon this in the final two pages, which have very clear suggestions for how to look after bees and 'help them feel at home'. These pages are attractive, informative and inclusive - every child could get involved with the suggested ideas.Home Is Where the Hive Is looks attractive and has a neatly punning title. However, I do have some minor quibbles. One is the blurring of information book and story book conventions. The story here seems to be told for the purpose of teaching, but if that is the case, some details are misleading. For example, the Queen bee is sitting down with a crown on her head; this will foster misconceptions. Also, the roof garden is built with incredible speed; this could create unrealistic expectations. Finally, the urgent importance of protecting bees is not really explained; this seems to be an opportunity missed when they are so crucial to the ecosystem.Read and discussed with an adult, this book will certainly help a child understand bees better. It may inspire a passion for the environment. It may make readers aware that everyone, including children, can help protect and rejuvenate habitats. There is also a hint in the dedication at the start that Beatrice's bold adventure represents the many people forced to leave their homes and build another. In the current circumstances, the book could be a gentle stimulus to discuss the resilience and determination of refugees. These are good reasons why this book could merit a place on the KS1 shelf. -- Just Imagine * *
A brightly illustrated, informative and fun book about bees for ages 4-7 that teaches children about habitats and the importance of pollinatorsThis is an excellent, hard-backed book that uses both fiction and non-fiction to explain the importance of bees and what we can do to encourage all pollinators to thrive. We are first introduced to the main character, Beatrice, which is a clever play on words, and her home in Big Tree Hive. The problem in the story is then revealed, as humans have had an impact on the lives of the hive and their ability to produce honey. The adventurous Beatrice sets out to find a new home for her community, endeavouring to find her favourite flowers. Firstly, she visits a developing rooftop garden, which is just not right, but at the end of the tale provides a home to the bees. She then visits a suburban garden, a garden centre, a busy street and some waste ground, with an opportunity for discussion around the suitability of these areas. Finally, she revisits the rooftop garden and sees an empty hive and all the flowers they could ever need. She brings the whole swarm back with her and they settle into their new habitat. The cleverly coloured (mixture of greys and bright colours) pictures bring the story alive, and would enable the reader to elicit understanding from any child. The end of the book gives advice about how we can provide a good habitat for pollinators of all kinds. This book would be an excellent story to share when teaching about human's impact on habitat loss and about the importance of pollinators; it sits at the heart of many topics in the Science National Curriculum. With many schools choosing to keep a hive, it would be a great way to introduce this concept and lead to research on what would be needed. Equally, it stands alone as a jolly good read.Kathryn JaggerAssistant head teacher and chartered science teacher at Spotland Primary School, Rochdale -- Primary Science Magazine * *
I love the message at the core of this book, which is one of bee conservation, and is something that is incredibly important, so it is fantastic to have a book that brings it to the attention of the younger generation. Beatrice is one of many bees that sadly have to find themselves somewhere else to call home due to their habitat being taken over by humans, and many concrete structures that have been erected. When Beatrice heads off in search of somewhere the entire bee colony can relocate to she struggles. Everywhere she flies to has one issue or another, and hope is fading fast, until the determined young bee spots somewhere that just may be perfect whilst flying for home.The hive that the bees have relocated to is situated in a garden atop of a block of flats, with the residents creating it to help the wildlife. This is exactly the sort of thing we all could, and should, do in order to protect bees and ensure their survival, and at the end of the book there are some brilliant tips, and advice, on how to achieve this for yourselves. With beautiful illustrations that are brightly coloured, and bold in design, there is a lot of the message being portrayed visually, with parts of Beatrice's journeying coloured entirely in grey to reflect the lack of plants and flowers. I can see how invaluable and relevant this book is, and will remain, and I definitely recommend sharing this book with your little ones. -- BookBound * *

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