“Bees in Loretta’s Bonnet” by Lois Wickstrom

BEES IN LORETTA’S BONNET

Lois Wickstrom
CreateSpace (2016)
ISBN 9781530562053
Reviewed by Rose Whitacre (age 6) for Reader Views (03/17)

“Bees in Loretta’s Bonnet” by Lois Wickstrom is a really fun book. It is about a girl named Loretta who found a leafcutter bee’s nest, as she was getting wood from the woodpile. She talked to her parents about the nest she found and she said she would take it outside so the bees would find flowers when they hatched in the spring. Her parents taught her about how bees are good for the garden.

While she was finding the nest, Loretta lost her bonnet and the leafcutter bees found it and made lots of nests in it. In the spring, she followed a bee to finally find her lost bonnet. She was excited to find her bonnet, but she didn’t want to touch it because she didn’t want to get stung by the bees. “‘You found my bonnet,’ Loretta said to the bee. She started to reach for it. Then she remembered that bee’s sting, and pulled her hand back. ‘You can have my bonnet,’ she said.”

Before I read this book, I didn’t know anything about leafcutter bees. I learned what kind of home leafcutter bees live in. I learned why they are called leafcutter bees – because they cut circles out of leaves to use to build their nests. I was scared of bees, but after reading this book and learning more about leafcutter bees, I wasn’t as scared. I like learning about nature through storybooks.

I loved “Bees in Loretta’s Bonnet” by Lois Wickstrom because it is fun and very good. The pictures are beautiful and colorful. I think this book is well written. I like how it had instructions at the end for making your own bee nests out of parchment paper and things from around the house. You can use the bee’s nests you make to try to get leafcutter bees to come to your yard. I think any kid my age who loves nature and animals would really enjoy this book.