Ag Buzzáil sa Ghairdín

Children will themselves be ‘buzzing’ after this gorgeous, lively and entertaining read! We go on a journey around the garden with Billí Beach, the busiest bee in the country as he travels from flower to flower collecting nectar to bring to the beehive.

There is a handy visual glossary at the start and end of the book to show us all the flowers that we will come across in the story such as the daisy, daffodil and foxglove. From the very first page, readers are drawn into this story with the trademark writing of Áine Ní Ghlinn who has written with such rhythm and rhyme that it sounds like a song or a ‘rap’:

‘Is mise Billí Beach,
Billí Beach, Bill,
Is maith liom neachtar,
Is maith liom mil.’

Then we must rush to keep up with Billí from flower to flower and not only do we learn the names of all the flowers, but our senses are activated throughout as we read about smells, tastes, sounds and colours.

There are so many learning points in this book for young children from the process of honey-making to naming the different flowers to identifying colours. The story naturally invites children to take an active part in the reading process and to join in with the repeated ‘bzzz bzzz bzzz’ and place a finger on the different colours as they are listed.
The illustrations of Mr Ando are perfect for the text with bright colours and thick black lines that really complement the book’s style. There are little hidden details on each page and the colour of the sky very cleverly changes from day to night and back to day again as Billí works ‘ó mhaidin go hoíche’. Nature lovers will be satisfied to see it is accurate too when Billí mentions his four wings!

This is a fantastic book for the young reader and is a perfect classroom resource for teachers when teaching about bees, honey and flowers. I bet that the words and rhymes will be circling in your mind for some time after reading!