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Busy Little Bee
AnimalsAges 5–7

Busy Little Bee

by ReadRead · 4 min read

Buzz to a flower, and sip! A little bee, a ladybug, a hummingbird, and a trail of flowers that leads back home.

10pop-up spreads
49things to tap
2new words
Words in this book
buzzsipagainasksawaybackbeesblows
Peek inside

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Inside the book

Bea is a busy little bee who lives in a round straw hive in a sunny garden. All morning she buzzes from flower to flower and sips the sweet juice. She helps a ladybug who is stuck on her back, and she makes room for a hummingbird at her flower. Then a big wind blows her far away, and she is too tired to fly. Her new friends show her the way home.

Home at sunset in Busy Little Bee: the hive bees come out to cheer for Bea, Spot and Hum.
Home at sunset in Busy Little Bee: the hive bees come out to cheer for Bea, Spot and Hum.
Bea sips sweet juice from a big yellow flower.
Bea sips sweet juice from a big yellow flower.
Bea and Hum the hummingbird share a red flower.
Bea and Hum the hummingbird share a red flower.
A trail of flowers leads Bea back to her hive.
A trail of flowers leads Bea back to her hive.

The two new words

buzz

The humming sound a bee makes as it flies, and to fly along humming. It comes up 8 times, and every time Bea really zooms off with her wings a blur.

sip

To drink a little bit at a time. It comes up 10 times, and every time Bea (or Hum) dips into a flower and a golden drop of sweet juice goes up.

A refrain comes back on three spreads (“Buzz to a flower, and sip!”), so a child can say it along. Every other word is a common word, like flower, hive, wind, help and home.

Questions to ask while you read

Pause after each spread and ask one question. There are no right answers; the point is to get your child talking.

  1. 1What can you see in the sunny garden?
  2. 2What does Bea do at the big yellow flower?
  3. 3Why can’t the ladybug get up? How does Bea help?
  4. 4The hummingbird wants some too. What does Bea say?
  5. 5Can you say it with Bea: “Buzz to a flower, and sip!”
  6. 6Whoosh! What happens to Bea? How does she feel?
  7. 7How do Spot and Hum help Bea find her hive?
  8. 8Bea is tired. What does Spot tell her to do?
  9. 9Tap the flowers: can you help Bea sip all the way home?
  10. 10Who says thank you at the end? Who would you thank?

Tips for parents

  • First time: use Read to me and let your child just listen and watch.
  • Before page seven, stop and ask “Bea is lost. How could her friends help?” Let them think of a way.
  • On the flower trail page, let your child say “buzz!” before each tap and “sip!” when Bea drinks.
  • Try it for real: sip water through a straw, a little at a time, and buzz like a bee around the room.
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