- Picture Books
- Ages 3–6
- Everyday Life
Let's Be Bees
A joyfully surreal make-believe romp from a Caldecott Honoree, in which a parent and child buzz, rustle and transform their way through a game of pure imagination.
- Best for3–6
- FormatPicture
- Length40 pp
- Read aloud~8 min
The vibe
What it’s like.
Style
- Rhyming
- Repetitive
- Onomatopoeic
Tone
- Silly
- Warm
- Whimsical
- Funny
Themes
Experience meters
What’s it about?
The story.
The only thing better than playing make-believe is playing make-believe with your favourite grown-up, especially when that grown-up's imagination is every bit as big as yours. So let's be bees. Let's buzz. And then let's be trees, and rustle, and whatever comes next, tumbling from one gleeful transformation to the next in a game with no rules but its own delight. Caldecott Honoree Shawn Harris uses bright, bold crayon illustrations, rhythmic words and endless invitations to join in, turning the page into a stage for boundless creative play. Warm, funny and wonderfully participatory, Let's Be Bees is an interactive read-aloud guaranteed to bring on the giggles and spark exactly the kind of imaginative romping it celebrates. A picture book to perform, not just read, and a love letter to playing make-believe together.
“Let's be bees. LET'S BUZZ.”
Fit check
Right for your child?
Where it lands by age
Made for reading aloud with children of about 2 or 3 up to 6, where the join-in play lands hardest. It shines one-on-one but works beautifully with a whole group of gigglers too.
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- Best fit · 3–6
- Read aloud · 2–6
- Independent · 5–6
Prose load
Minimal
Visual support
Very high
Reluctant-reader friendly
Very
Read-aloud quality
Excellent
Works well for
- Reading aloud
- Reading together
- Gift-buying
- Reluctant readers
Nothing in the book is likely to concern most parents. Safe to recommend without preview.
Bedtime suitability
3 / 5 · Workable
Sensitive-child
5 / 5 · Good fit
Graphic intensity
1 / 5 · None
Best for
- Read aloud
- Imaginative play
- Parent and child
- Toddler favourites
Avoid if
- Wants a plot
- Wants quiet bedtime
Particularly good for children who are…
- Interested in art and creativity
In the classroom
How it works in school.
A superb EYFS read-aloud for sparking movement, sound-making and imaginative role-play, with children buzzing and rustling along with the text.
A book children love that happens to support school — never a stand-in for the texts a class is taught with.
Why it lands
Why they love it.
Why kids love it
The book is basically a game, and children can't resist buzzing and rustling along with it. Sharing the make-believe with a grown-up whose imagination is as wild as theirs is the best part, and the crayon pictures burst with energy.
- Transformation
- Shapeshifting
- Family belonging
Why parents love it
A gorgeously energetic, participatory picture book from a Caldecott Honoree that turns reading aloud into shared play. Its celebration of a grown-up who joins in wholeheartedly is quietly moving as well as huge fun.
- Beautiful illustrations
- Shared humour
- Bedtime appropriate
About the author & illustrator
Shawn Harris.
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