A Hive for the Honeybee (by Soinbhe Lally)

In the hive everyone has their roles: the queen lays eggs, the female workers tend the hive and make the honey, and the male drones lay around, get drunk, and think up government and religious rituals to pass the time while waiting for a chance to mate with the queen. But three bees, Thora, Albert, and Mo, don't seem to fit their roles. Thora, a worker, dreams of idleness and freedom. Albert, a drone, is a poet who thinks in metaphors, and Mo is a rebel who questions everything.

But life in the hive is not conducive to divergent thinking. Sensible workers don't have the time or patience for foolishness, and drones, filled with a sense of their own importance that the workers don't share, feel threatened. And when Mo tries to make peace with the hive's traditional enemies, the wasps, it's the workers, as usual, who have to clean up the mess.

Writing allegories for children is a dicey business. Because many kids will not get the symbolism, at least not without adult guidance, the story has to be good enough to hold them on its own. Reviewing allegories for children can also be problematic: it's all too easy for adult reviewers to get excited about the deeper meanings and forget who the target audience is.

In this case, it's not going to work for most children. As a story, aside from its metaphorical merits, the first half is slow and dull, and by the time it picks up in the second half, most young readers will have already put it aside. Even the illustrations of bees with stilt legs and human faces are oddly creepy. Experienced, patient young readers might continue to plow through, and in a discussion group, it might provoke some interesting conversations. But as well-written, well-intentioned, and clever as it is in its way, it's best for the most avid and intellectual young readers.

Author: Soinbhe Lally
Illustrator: Patience Brewster
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Publication date: August 28, 2004
Number of pages: 226
Hardcover price: $16.95