Living Montessori Now

Montessori Inspiration for Parents and Teachers

The Best Bee Books for Kids

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Using themes or unit studies is my favorite way to introduce a new subject or follow a child’s interest. My 3½-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, and I have been having lots of fun with a bee theme lately. I’m a true book lover, so I want to share some of my (and Zoey’s) favorite bee books for kids.

The Best Bee Books for Kids

Just choose books based on your child’s age and what you think will engage your child’s interest. I like Amazon’s “Look Inside the Book” feature as a way of getting a good idea of the book’s writing and photographs or illustrations before buying.

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I really like the TIME for Kids Science Scoops books. Bees!  is a Montessori-friendly book with fabulous photographs. The book is recommended for ages 6-10 because it’s designed for readers, but it’s a great book to read aloud to younger children.

DK Readers: Busy, Buzzy Bee (Level 1: Beginning to Read) is another Montessori-friendly beginning reader for ages 5-7 that’s great to read aloud to younger children. 

National Geographic Readers: Bees by Laura Marsh is one of Zoey’s and my favorites. Again, it’s a Montessori-friendly book with gorgeous photographs and fascinating facts. Because it’s a level 2 reader, it has more information than the above TIME and DK books, but it’s still interesting to young children. 


I like the Start to Finish books because they ‘re Montessori-friendly books that make each step of a process clear, whether it’s the stages of life of an animal or the stages of a natural material being turned into a  finished product. From Flower to Honey by Robin Nelson uses photographs to simply show how honey is made by bees and then turned into a product for the grocery store. The book is recommended for ages 4-7, but it’s simple enough for younger children, too.


Zoey enjoyed Are You an Ant?  during our ant unit last year. She really thought about the concept of being a bee when we read Are You a Bee? (Backyard Books) by Judy Allen  with illustrations by Tudor Humphries. This is a Montessori-friendly book that uses realistic drawings rather than photographs. I like the way it makes children think about a topic from a different perspective. (Recommended for ages 5-8).

Bee: A Peek-Through Picture Book by Britta Teckentrup is a Montessori-friendly book with lovely illustrations and a hexagonal die-cut frame that’s used in a variety of sizes throughout the book to add interest. The book tells how bees help pollinate our world.

Flight of the Honey Bee (Read and Wonder) by Raymond Huber, illustrated by Brian Lovelock, uses realistic drawings of bees with impressionist-style backgrounds. It’s the story of Scout, a worker bee. It gives many facts in the form of a story of Scout’s day. It’s a wonderful choice for families and schools who like Montessori-friendly stories that “could happen.” (Recommended for ages 3-7.)

These Bees Count! (These Things Count!) is mainly about a field trip to a bee farm that “could happen.” The bees buzz a rhythmic counting song, which isn’t realistic, but it’s a fun way to focus on counting in a bee book.


Zoey and I both really like The Beeman by Laurie Krebs, illustrated by Valeria Cis. It’s a Montessori-friendly, sweet story of a boy and his grandpa, who’s known as the Beeman. The book gives a lot of information about bees and a beekeeper, told in rhyming text similar to “The House That Jack Built.” (Recommended for ages 5-8, although younger children will enjoy the story and rhyming text.)

Miss Zoey Reading The Beeman to Her Class (Grandma)

Miss Zoey Reading The Beeman to Her Class (Grandma)

Zoey loves to pretend to be the teacher reading to her class. Here, I’m the class! (Yes, Zoey is often dressed like Elsa or Anna!)

The Magic School Bus Inside a Beehive is one of the original Magic School Bus books written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen. These are the best, fact-rich Magic School Bus books (as opposed to the ones based on the TV series). There’s a LOT of scientific information in these books, so they’re best for children who won’t be overwhelmed by it. For younger Magic School Bus fans, you can always read only parts of each page.

Obviously, the Magic School Bus story is fantasy, so Montessori purists may not approve of them for preschoolers. Zoey loves the Magic School Bus books even though she’s only 3½, but we still talk about which things are just silly. I do that routinely with books that use fantasy (although we read as many Montessori-style books as possible, too). It’s nice that there’s a section with “Some Things Can’t Happen in Real Life” at the end to help children clearly understand what’s fact and what’s fantasy. (Recommended for ages 4-8.)

DK’s The Bee Book (recommended for ages 5 and up) is a beautifully photographed and thorough  book about bees … perfect for older kids and younger ones who want all the facts!

Bees: A Honeyed History by Piotr Socha is a beautifully illustrated book with both scientific information and cultural history of bees for ages 6-9 (although it’s wonderful for ages 6 on up). Packed with facts and fascinating illustrations.

Free Bee Printables and Montessori-Inspired Bee Activities

Check out my other bee resources in my free bee printables and Montessori-inspired bee activities!


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