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A Hive for the Honeybee

(2004, Fiction - Animals, Written by Soinbhe Lally, Illustrated by Patience Brewster)

  • Is it age appropriate?

    About our ratings

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    Not age appropriate for kids under 8, age appropriate for kids over 9; suggested age 9.

  • Is it any good?

    3.0

  • Common Sense says

    Insect allegory might be too slow for most kids.

Why We Rated This on for Ages 9 and Up

The good stuff

  • Messages:

    Not an issue.
 

What to watch out for

  • Violence:

    A war with wasps, a mouse is killed, skinned and its bones are entombed in wax.

  • Sex:

    Desire and lovers are referred to, the queen serially mates with many drones, who then die.

  • Language:

    Few and mild.

  • Consumerism:

    Not an issue.

  • Drinking, drugs, & smoking:

    The drones frequently get drunk on honey.
 

What Parents Need to Know

About A Hive for the Honeybee

Parents need to know that this story is intended to provoke discussion about society, sex roles, social classes, art, religion, government, and more. But whether it actually will provoke those discussions depends on whether your kid is one of the few who will finish it voluntarily. The queen bee mates with many partners, and a mouse is violently killed in battle.

Did this review help you decide?

Families Can Talk About

  • Families can talk about how this story functions as a social allegory. What is the author trying to say about the way his fictional society functions? Who are the heroes of this story? Are there any villains? If you had to cast humans -- or even celebrities -- to play each of the animals featured in the book, who would you cast?
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