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Summary
Summary
Things are not always what they appear to be in this mezmerizing tale of a bee and a bird's epic journey. These brilliantly hued illustrations by Craig Frazier look good enough to eat, and the simple but surprising story will entrance young readers . . . and everyone else.
Author Notes
Craig Frazier's illustrations have appeared in, amonth other publications, the New York Times , Time magazine, the Wall Street Journal , Business Week , and Harvard Business Review , and on the cover of The Society of Illustrators Annual 42. He has also designed four stamps for the U.S. Postal Service including the 2006 Love stamp and the 2010 comemorative Scouting stamp. His books include Hank Finds Inspiration , recipient of starred reviews from Kirkus and Publishers Weekly , Trucks Roll!, and the Stanley picture book series. Craig lives in Mill Valley, California, with his wife Suzanne.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 1-Bee hitches a ride with Bird for his journey home in this wordless picture book in which objects are not always what they seem. Frazier tells the story of the friends' trip by introducing their mode of transportation on one page and expanding on it on the next as they travel by way of a tree in a pickup truck, the back of a cow in a pasture, a white sailboat in a pond, and in a bicycle basket until they arrive at the bee's hive. Frazier's crisp, bright primary colors and strong use of line and geometric shapes create unique perspectives that keep readers wanting to see where Bee and Bird will end up next. A guessing game evolves as a view of wide black-and-yellow stripes with a hint of red zooms out with the turn of a page to become Bee and Bird; wavy blue lines become a pond; a large white triangle becomes a boat's sail. This engaging picture book is ideal for a one-on-one lapsit and will be enjoyed by youngsters who are attracted to the brilliant colors and mysterious patterns.-Kristine M. Casper, Huntington Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Frazier's (Lots of Dots) crisp graphic sense and supersaturated fields of red, yellow, green, and light blue drive this wordless picture book. Its focus is the play of view and perspective, using the striped, gossamer-winged Bee and red Bird as subjects. The first spread shows columns of yellow and black-what can they be?-and the next pulls back enough to reveal Bee viewed from above, perched on the gigantic head of Bird; from Bee's point of view, Bird's head is the size of a planet. This book is first cousin to Istvan Banyai's Zoom: it also plays with the idea that something that appears very large (Bird and Bee aboard a sailboat, on what looks like an endless span of stylized waves) turns out to be quite small (it's a toy boat held in the hand of a boy). Here, though, the action takes place on a single stage; Bird and Bee are always there, and the scenery against which they appear is always real. The strong primary colors vibrate against each other, and the patterns have the attractive pull of a billboard. Ages 2-6. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
A red bird finds a bee perched on its head. The bird goes everywhere--riding on a cow's back, flying onto a sailboat--but the bee doesn't budge. This wordless book is full of surprises resulting from Frazier's wizardry with perspective (e.g., the sailboat turns out to be a child's toy). Frazier's shapes and colors couldn't be bolder or surer. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
A bee and bird travel from tree and truck to boat and beehive; the likable pair are the perfect guides to this wordless work on perspective.A bright-red triangle peeks from the corner of a spread dominated by black and yellow stripes. This evolves into a bee riding a bird's head (the red triangle, it turns out, was that little bit of bird readers could see beyond the abdomen of the highly magnified bee). The bird sits on a branchof a treeon a truck and so on, the illustrator's "camera" pulling back further with each page turn to reveal more and more. Frazier's images create a quaint narrative as the previous page's patterns are represented in a new context on the following page. With each spread, Bee and Bird's journey unfolds, and the perspective puzzle is pieced together. Done in Frazier's signature style, the illustrations are filled with simple, bold patterns in primary colors, and everything is thoughtfully abstracted into geometric patterns and shapes. However, here fans of Frazier's Stanley and Hank books will feel a lack of joyful freedom in the forms, as his artwork appears to be restricted by the confines of concept.Still, pleasant and cheery, it is an interesting and urbane read.(Picture book. 2-6)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
In this engaging, wordless tale, Bee and Bird set off on a trip that leads to a pleasing conclusion a new home for Bee but as is often the case, it's the journey itself that is most satisfying. Graphic designer and illustrator Frazier, whose earlier work includes Hank Finds Inspiration (2008) and the 200. Lov. stamp, uses perspective to great advantage in creating mystery and drawing readers into the story. A spread of alternating black and yellow stripes becomes a bee sitting on a red circle, later revealed to be a bird silhouetted against a green background, eventually shown to be a tree. The vividly colored artwork will immediately snag young readers' attention; the perplexing views will entice them into the plot; and subtle clues (a small patch of red in the corner of the stripe page, for example) will help them make sense of the details in subsequent viewings. A perfect choice for toddlers making the transition from board books to stories or for slightly older listeners working on visual literacy skills.--Weisman, Ka. Copyright 2010 Booklist
