Read, Read, Read, said the Baby: Hello Honeybees: Read and Play in the Hive by Hannah Rogge, illustrated by Emily Dove

I'm usually skeptical about novelty books like this; I save them for storytime kits or activities, but I think this one might actually work well as a book as well as a component of a kit.

The book opens out into the shape of a hive and, embedded in the front cover, are two cardboard bee shapes. These are attached to the book by ribbons. You can use the bees to follow along the story. The bees in the story address the reader directly, inviting them along as they search for flowers, collect nectar, and the do the waggle dance - everybody can join in! Two spreads show the bees hard at work within their hive, and then they return to the flowers to repeat their jobs.

The bees and their surroundings are shown in cute, cartoon versions with big eyes, smiling faces, and lots of soft greens, yellows, and red and purple flowers. The pages are sturdy cardboard and the book will hold together well, even if the little detachable bees go the way of all novelty board books. The text is a little longer than I'd usually look for in a board book, but it's still simple enough for young children to understand and would work well if you read parts of it aloud.

Verdict: A fun and unique book about bees, this makes a great introduction for little ones to these important insects.

ISBN: 9781452168920; Published March 2019 by Chronicle; Borrowed from another library in my consortium