Little Bee and the Bloom by Carly Kremer and Katie Hunt is a fun, sweet rhyming way to learn about bees and flowers. It has cute illustrations that make it a bouncy, bright, colorful and energetic read. No, I was not blown away, but I enjoyed it. The thing I liked is that it is a good way to introduce the concept to the older toddler and preschooler aged child. And you could even read it to a kindergartner or they could read it with help. Plus, if you have around a first grader with perhaps a slightly lower concept understanding level, it works, too. The individual child and not the classroom setting might be the best bet, but you could use it in a classroom as well.
When I received the online reader copy (due in September 2026) even though I had requested it via a Grab-a-Galley! situation, I was on the fence about reading it. I was not in the mood for something too sweet. Yet, I also wanted a quick read for lunch. The adult me was “Yes that will be a quick read” and the kid me was “Yes that looks funny and fun.” Eventually, adult me also said “Yes it is sweet, maybe a bit too sweet for some but it is also perfect for the right reader.” And that reader probably would be a modern reader who likes a classical feeling to the style of writing. It is not scary, or sad or anything bad. The tension comes from how there are not a lot of flowers to help, not only keep the one lone flower company, but to help keep the bees and pollinators happy.
Know your reader. Know if they will sit for a slightly longer book, but also is not too long, especially as the story moves along (bee and flower help each other after the problem is learned). In the end, not my all time favorite book, but a book that was cozy and fit the mood I was in at the time of reading.
