Swarm of Bees

Here's a story of a simplistic romp through town with a swarm of bees that seem angry (who will we sting?) and a child pulling a wagon of tomatoes. It turns out the child is throwing tomatoes at the characters the bees consider stinging, so being mad is not just about a swarm of angry bees. This

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book is more suited to the 4-year-old and -under audience, who will probably enjoy both angry bees and a kid who is mad enough to throw tomatoes.

My biggest issue with the story is the misinformation about bees, since the story is aimed at children. It is especially important that kids understand bees are actually quite peaceable creatures and a swarm is not a danger in terms of stinging. I'm surprised that the concept of feeling angry and its subsequent resolution was handled so clumsily.

As is usual with Lemony Snickett's books, the illustrations are colourful and unexpected in their execution. But I wondered if these designs were too complex to engage a young audience or hold their interest? Compared to The Bad Mood and the Stick, these images didn't convey the same enjoyment or relate as closely to the gist of the story.

I received this book through the Early Reviewer's program in exchange for an unbiased review.

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Not sure what to say about this unfocused story. A little boy is angry. Why? We don't know. He wanders around town throwing (stolen?) tomatoes at random human and animal targets. Finally, and none too soon, the bee swarm that followed him seeking vengeance, and which is likely meant to be a

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physical manifestation of said anger, is recaptured by a beekeeper and the boy is surrounded by his victims who promptly forgive him and treat him to a spaghetti feast. Why?

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SWARM OF BEES is a story about anger and letting go of anger. It is told in an apostrophic style, addressing a swarm of bees that represents anger. The book verges on absurd because the telling is so spare and the narrative details feel random until the story's resolution, which involves a

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beekeeper. It's not an entirely fulfilling experience for adult readers, but I suspect kids will enjoy the bright primary colours in the illustrations and the unusual diction of the storytelling.

This book has the narrative feel of other Lemony Snicket texts, albeit in a highly compressed form, but anyone looking to extend the reading experience of A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS will likely be disappointed with this book. For myself, I'm looking forward to longer narratives from Lemony Snicket / Daniel Handler in the future.

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Adult's review: Swarm of Bees is about a boy who walks through town throwing tomatoes at everyone, followed by a swarm of bees which represent his anger. The illustrations are simple and eye-catching. The story is okay, and ends with the boy letting go of his anger and going to clean up the mess he

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made, but it's not clear what helps him let go of his anger.
5-year-old's review: I like it. I like that it's funny and the boy goes to different people. I like the map picture.

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The artwork in this book is really beautiful, however the story is very lackluster. A boy walks through town his anger causing mischief in the form of bees. Although the story has a resolution, it's not clear how the boys anger is resolved. It is unfortunate that the story isn't more cohesive, as

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this is otherwise a very nice book.

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My daughter really enjoyed this story and loved the illustrations. The illustrations are very cute but I found the story was lacking a little bit of cohesion.

I found this book to be difficult to follow and full of a train of disjointed characters. The moral about controlling emotions is more than an arms length away, seemingly unreachable to little readers who think more literary than adults. They only emotions it seems to convey is within the reader,

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confusion, disappointment and angry about the unprovoked tomato attack.

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