The Bee Tree

by Patricia Polacco

Paperback, 1993

Status

Available

Call number

E POL

Publication

Trumpet (1993)

Description

To teach his daughter the value of books, a father leads a growing crowd in search of the tree where the bees keep all their honey.

Barcode

4624

Awards

Kentucky Bluegrass Award (Nominee — Grades K-3 — 1995)
Show Me Readers Award (Nominee — 1996)

Language

User reviews

LibraryThing member cvyork
Exciting action sequence that loosely ties to the beginning to the end.
LibraryThing member rebecca401
Mary Ellen doesn’t want to read until she and her Grandpa and many friends follow a bee to the bee tree. He pours fresh, sweet honey on a book and tells her about the sweetness hidden within--a sweetness that has to be pursued with the same kind of endurance as chasing a bee to a bee tree. (A
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prequel Thank You, Mr. Faulkner, perhaps?) This story also involves many friends who join the bee chase, and the funny sounds they make as they run through the countryside are a joy to read aloud!
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LibraryThing member sdlucas
This book could be used when children become discouraged or fed up with reading. It shows that there are many different things in life that we have to work hard to reap the benefits in the end. It shows that with determination and will anything can be accomplished. It also deals with bees and shows
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team work by having all of the different people from the town help them follow the bee to the hive.
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LibraryThing member klhocutt
A young girl is tired of reading a book with her Grandpa, she wants to fun. He takes her on a chase to find a bee tree and get the honey. All the neighbors see and start in on the chase with them. They find the tree and when they get home she finds out that reading is fun and she now enjoys it.
LibraryThing member wendyfincher
Mary Ellen becomes bored with reading and wants to go out to play. Her grandfather decides to take her on a little adventure to find a bee tree. They first find and capture some bees. They release one bee at a time and follow it. As people see them running after the bee they all join it so that
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they can have an adventure too. When they find the bee tree, they all work together to collect the honey and return home with Mary Ellen and her grandfather. They all have a party and enjoy the honey. Mary Ellen's grandfather takes her inside and explains that she does not have to run after bees to have an adventure, all she has to do is read a book.
This book is a level 4 read and a great way to promote reading.
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LibraryThing member aezeek
This is a cute book about a little girl who is tired of reading. Her grandfather suggests that they go and try to find a bee tree. They do this by capturing a bee inside a jar. Then they let it go and follow it as it flies back to its tree. Everyone in the neighborhood sees the grandpa and little
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girl following the bee and decide to join in! After they find the tree everyone in town emjoys fresh, delicious honey! Yummy book for all children.
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LibraryThing member mrsarey
This is a sweet little tale about following bees to a bee tree and the lesson that went with it.
LibraryThing member slrice
The story begins with a little girl who doesn't have a taste for reading. When she announces to her grampa that she no longer is interested in reading, he tells her he's going to take her on a bee hunt. Along the trail their neighbors and friends decide to go along to find the bee tree. once they
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find the tree they gather the honey from it and head back to the little girl's house. The girl's grampa calls her into the house away from the party, where he teaches her a new found passion and love for reading.
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LibraryThing member kdcoshatt
This book is about a girl and her grandfather who chase a single bee so that it will lead them back to its nest and they can get the sweet honey that the bees make. While chasing this bee many people ask, "What are yall doing?" they say we are chasing a bee to find the honey and people start to
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join in and run after the bee with them. Before they know it tons of people are chasing the bee with them. WHen they finally find the nest everyone helps in getting the honey from the nest and then they all eat treats with the sweet bee honey.
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LibraryThing member msshank
A little girl does not enjoy reading. Her grandpa notices and plans a hunt for a bee tree. The whole town goes on the bee tree chase. Mary Ellen realizes once everyone is back home that you must work for things.
LibraryThing member rsimmons
This book is about a little girl that is tired of reading and is bored so her Grampa teaches her a lesson. This lesson that he teaches her makes her enjoy to read and learn about new things.
LibraryThing member skstiles612
A bored child sets out with her grandfather to find a bee tree. They are joined along the way by many others. Upon finding the tree they get the honey out and share it. The child discovers the sweetest things in life must be worked for.
LibraryThing member jebass
When Mary Ellen gets tired of reading, her Grandpa takes her on a wild adventure, leading a running chase after honeybees to find the honey hive. Along the way, several animals and neighbors join in the chase and everyone shares in the honey harvest. When the day is over, Mary Ellen's Grandpa
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instructs her to lick honey off of the cover of her book to make the point that sweet things like adventure, wisdom and knowledge can be found INSIDE the book, too; but, to get it, you must chase it through the pages of the book, much like the crowd chased the bees for the sweetness of the honey.

This book is a great book about books--a funny story to lead the readers to the message that reading is worthwhile.
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LibraryThing member acochra
This is a book about a young girl who's grandfather shows her how to get honey through catching bees and slowly letting them out and following them to the "bee tree". It also has a really powerful message of how you can find adventure in the pages of the book you are reading. If a child was
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struggling with finding their passion for reading you could read them this book, because this would be a great message for them to hear. A student's love for reading has to be an internal drive. So, this book really helps students to see the journey of the young girl and her grandfather led to a really engaging story and each book has their own adventure you just have to read the pages to find it.
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LibraryThing member MalissaLojszczyk
Mary Ellen doesn't want to read, so her grandfather takes her on a great adventure to find a bee tree. In th end, Mary Ellen learns that there is a world of "adventure, knowledge and wisdom" in books and she learned to love reading.
LibraryThing member eghirsch
I really enjoyed the illustrations in this book they were all very descriptive in telling the story. The author also used sound words throughout the story to help describe the actions the characters were doing. I think many children can connect well with this story because the children in the story
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are learning from their grandpa.
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LibraryThing member bethlynlucas
The illustrations in this book are very well done. The story is fun and exciting and has a great lesson at the end. It points out how important reading is and also how fun it can be.
LibraryThing member sam8642
Mary Ellen is tired of reading; she wants to go outside to play. Her grampa decides to take her on a bee hive hunt to find honey. Grampa teaches Mary Ellen that books contain sweetness and have to be pursued like the bees were to find the honey. A great picture book touching on topics of the value
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of education and the wisdom of grandparents. Children will love the illustrations and the bee hunt itself.
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LibraryThing member AbigailAdams26
Based upon the stories of her own mother's childhood in rural Michigan, Patricia Polacco's The Bee Tree is an engaging tale of a girl and her grandfather's search for a bee tree, and the honey to be found therein. When Mary Ellen declares that she is tired of reading, her Grampa decides that it
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might be time for a bee tree hunt, in which one captures a few honey-bees in a jar, releases them one by one, and follows them to the source. As Mary Ellen and Grampa tear across the countryside in hot pursuit, a variety of community members join the chase...

Although I cannot say that this is one of my favorite Polacco picture-books - I just didn't feel the same kind of emotional connection to it, that I did to titles like The Lemonade Club, read at the same time, or to Thank You, Mr. Falker - I can see that it would make an entertaining read-aloud. I also appreciated the "lesson" that Grampa works into the adventure. All in all, one I would recommend to fellow Patricia Polacco fans!
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LibraryThing member Whisper1
When Mary Ellen tells her grand father she is bored and tired of reading, he takes her on an adventure to follow the bees to the bee tree where they will find honey. In The Gingerbread Man fashion, many friends and animals from the Michigan countryside drop what they are doing and follow
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along.

After their wild adventure, her grandfather places a dallop of honey on her book telling her that reading can be very sweet.

While not one of my favorites, I enjoy the unique artwork and Polacco's common thread of family and the joy of life
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LibraryThing member Climbing-books
"The Bee Tree" is a good book in terms of plot line and keeping the story moving. Never is there a dull moment for the reader--keeping young readers engaged is important. The different cast of characters keeps things interesting--from an explorer to an elderly lady maintaining her garden--and
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reinforces the lesson that anyone can seek and be part of an adventure.
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LibraryThing member kzilinskas
Main character, Mary Ellen wants to play outside. Grandpa takes her to the bee tree where bees make honey. On her and her grandfather's adventure to the bee tree, everyone joins in on their adventure and chase after the bees. At the end of the story, everyone goes to Mary Ellen's grandfathers for a
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party and dancing. Beautiful childhood memory story. Demonstrates tradition.
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LibraryThing member LynnesHarpe
a girl tires of reading all the time so her grandfather teachers her how to follow bees to their honey. The whole neighborhood joins in the chase and in the end they enjoy the honey together, and her grandfather teaches her that books can be just as sweet as honey.
LibraryThing member ElainaBerger
This book is about a young girl and her grandpa going on an adventure. They go to find the honey. Grandpa works to show Ellen that adventure can also be found in a book.

ISBN

0590221086 / 9780590221085
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