Readers' Favorite 5 Star Review for Do Bees Say Please?

Reviewed by Afifa Raisa for Readers' Favorite

Do Bees Say Please? by Janice Garden Macdonald is an illustrated rhyming book for 2-6-year-old children. The story is narrated by a friendly bumble bee living on a country farm. The bee is desperate to make friends, but for an unknown reason, all the farm animals are scared of it. The sad bee eventually meets a goose who encourages it not to give up. On the goose's advice, the bee starts anew and successfully makes progress. The interesting part begins when a newborn baby goat from the farm climbs up onto the barn roof and refuses to get down. When the other animals, including its mother, fail to convince it to come down, the bee takes the matter into its own hands. The story ends with a wonderful lesson on politeness.

Janice Garden Macdonald's Do Bees Say Please? A Politeness Adventure is an eye-catching book with an appropriate amount of text on each page. I love the way the lines rhyme; it makes reading aloud with children a more enjoyable activity. Another great aspect of the book is that some of the pages come with additional fun and relevant information. Besides this, Macdonald has portrayed the bee in a way that makes it a relatable character to many kids. Children often feel frustrated about being unable to reach their goals; the bee getting up to try again after being motivated by the goose and eventually achieving success can encourage them not to give up. I feel that the best thing about the story is the clarity of the messages it aims to deliver; it undoubtedly makes this book a suitable pick for the intended audience.