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Summary
Summary
When Mary Ellen gets bored with her reading, Grandpa knows a hunt for a bee tree is just what she needs. Half the town joins the exciting chase, but it's not until everyone returns home that Mary Ellen makes a discovery of her own: Sometimes, even the sweetest of things must be worked for.
* "Polacco has created another charming picture book featuring a child learning from a grandparent in an idyllic pastoral setting . . . Both the writing and artwork are fresh and inviting." -- School Library Journal , starred review
"The newest gem from Polacco's treasure chest of family stories extols the virtue of reading--and of taking a study break . . . Like Mary Ellen, readers will emerge refreshed from this respite, ready to seek out new adventures." -- Publishers Weekly
"Young readers will savor this." -- The Horn Book
Author Notes
Patricia Polacco was born in Lansing, Michigan on July 11, 1944. She attended Oakland Tech High School in Oakland, California before heading off to the California College of Arts and Crafts in Oakland, then Laney Community College in Oakland. She then set off for Monash University, Mulgrave, Australia and the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, Australia where she received a Ph.D in Art History, Emphasis on Iconography.
After college, she restored ancient pieces of art for museums. She didn't start writing children's books until she was 41 years old. She began writing down the stories that were in her head, and was then encouraged to join the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. There she learned how to put together a dummy and get a story into the form of a children's picture book. Her mother paid for a trip to New York, where the two visited 16 publishers in one week. She submitted everything she had to more than one house. By the time she returned home the following week, she had sold just about everything.
Polacco has won the 1988 Sydney Taylor Book Award for The Keeping Quilt, and the 1989 International Reading Association Award for Rechenka's Eggs. She was inducted into the Author's Hall of Fame by the Santa Clara Reading Council in 1990, and received the Commonwealth Club of California's Recognition of Excellence that same year for Babushka's Doll, and again in 1992 for Chicken Sunday. She also won the Golden Kite Award for Illustration from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for Chicken Sunday in 1992, as well as the Boston Area Educators for Social Responsibility Children's Literature and Social Responsibility Award. In 1993, she won the Jane Adams Peace Assoc. and Women's Intl. League for Peace and Freedom Honor award for Mrs. Katz and Tush for its effective contribution to peace and social justice. She has won Parent's Choice Honors for Some Birthday in 1991, the video Dream Keeper in 1997 and Thank You Mr. Falker in 1998. In 1996, she won the Jo Osborne Award for Humor in Children's Literature. Her titles The Art of Miss. Chew and The Blessing Cup made The New York Times Best Seller List.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-- Polacco has created another charming picture book featuring a child learning from a grandparent in an idyllic pastoral setting. Mary Ellen complains that she is tired of reading. Her grandfather replies that ``. . . this is just the right time to find a bee tree!'' They chase bees through the Michigan countryside, are soon joined, a la ``The Gingerbread Man,'' by a number of bystanders, and are finally led to the hive. At the end of the story, Grampa drops a bit of honey on a book's cover and tells Mary Ellen to compare its sweetness to that which is found inside: ``Just like we ran after the bees to find their tree, so you must also chase these things adventure, knowledge, and wisdom through the pages of a book!'' While the message may not be as emotionally resonant as the themes found in Thunder Cake (Philomel, 1990) or Babushka's Doll (S. and S., 1990), both the writing and artwork are fresh and inviting. There is a marvelous specificity to the names and places found within the story, and the pacing is appropriately reckless. The double-page spreads are done in Polacco's distinctive multimedium style and are beautifully composed. Her use of white space sets off the clear yet unusual colors. Well worth pursuing. --Lauralyn Persson, Wilmette Public Library, IL(c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
The newest gem from Polacco's treasure chest of family stories extolls the virtues of reading--and of taking a study break. Young Mary Ellen would rather be ``outdoors running and playing'' than indoors with a book. Sympathetic to her feelings, her grandfather suggests that they find a bee tree. The Michigan woods literally buzz with activity as Mary Ellen and Grampa chase a pollen-laden bee to its far-off hive, picking up curious neighbors and passers-by along the way. Before long the original pair becomes a ``thundering stampede of goats, buggies, people and bikes'' in search of honey. Polacco's rollicking text provides a bubbly, adventurous tone for her cumulative romp. Boisterous color brings to life the characters' old-fashioned garb and the unspoiled lushness of the rural 19th-century setting. Fine pencil detail highlights stray pieces of hair blown back by the breeze, and the joy and determination on the faces of the honey hunters. Like Mary Ellen, readers will emerge refreshed from this respite, ready to seek out new adventures. Ages 4-8. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
On the day that Mary Ellen announces she is tired of reading, Grampa carefully traps and then releases a series of bees so that he and his granddaughter can follow the insects back to their tree. The fast-paced adventure story, which contains a moral about the value of books and reading, features a generous amount of white space and large, brilliantly colored pictures. From HORN BOOK 1993, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Surely Grampa, slouched cozily between bookcase and stove, isn't tired of reading, but Mary Ellen is--and Grampa has the perfect diversion: he catches a few bees in the garden, then frees them, one by one, so the two can trail them to their tree. In cumulative style, several colorful neighbors (``Einar Tundevold''; `' `Klondike' Bertha Fitchworth''; ``Feduciary Longdrop'' and his goats) join them; together, they smoke out the bees, wrap comb honey in the clean diapers of Baby Sylvester (who has come along with his mom), and go home for tea, biscuits, and honey, as well as ``tall tales and raucous laughter as they all buzzed about the sweet adventure of that day.'' The illustrations set these cheery goings-on back when some folks in Michigan still wore clothes from the old country (and diapers were routinely boiled!); as is her wont, Polacco uses bold areas of white, swatches of bright patterning, and creative perspectives with unusual energy and good humor. In the end, Grampa also has a unique way to sweeten Mary Ellen's book. Another charming piece of Americana from an artist of rare warmth and originality. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Ages 5-8. When Mary Ellen complains to Grampa that she's tired of reading her book, he proposes they hunt for a bee tree. Assorted eccentric neighbors join them as they chase bees across the countryside, find the tree, build a smoky fire, gather the honey, and celebrate the occasion. Back at home, Grampa spoons a drop of honey onto Mary Ellen's book and bids her, "Taste," saying, "There's such sweetness inside books too . . . adventure, knowledge, wisdom. But these things do not come easily. You must pursue them. Just like we ran after the bees to find their tree, so you must also chase these things through the pages of a book!" With a lively plot and a beautifully depicted backdrop of a rural Michigan community early in the twentieth century, this book delivers its lovely sentiment with originality and verve. (Reviewed Mar. 1, 1993)039921965XCarolyn Phelan