Bianca Lavies (1943–1989)

An interesting book, written and illustrated with photographs by a former National Geographic staff photographer. There is an unusual amount of human interest and human interactions with the bees described in this book, but the anecdotes are more compelling than distracting.

The book concludes on a guardedly positive note, but is a bit dated.

There are a few pictures of the author herself. They look really strange because she put plastic tape on her nose and cheeks to avoid being stung through show more the veil. show less

More interesting than you might imagine. Lavies documented bug behavior which I'd never heard of - mites and snails catching rides on the backs of larger critters, much like catching a bus. Her focus is her own compost pile, so the list isn't exhaustive. No mention of black soldier flies or red wigglers. The photography is impressive.

I like this author and her photography, but somehow this book seems less exciting.

I would use this book for a 3-5 classroom. I would use it as a read aloud. I would use this story during a lesson on recycling or food chains. The students would analyze the decomposers that the book gives information on. We would discuss how these critters break down food, making it nutrients for plants. Then we would discuss which animals in nature eat the decomposers, and so on. This is a good book to teach students about the importance of composting for our environment. The close up show more images of these critters would make it engaging for students, seeing as these are all critters they are familiar with. show less