I do not naturally gravitate toward graphic novels. I find them too busy and they require a lot of effort on my part to slow down and really analyze the images when I naturally read text quickly. But I am glad I found and stuck with The Way of the Hive: A Honey Bee’s Story by Jay Hosler (Harper Collins, 2021). I learned so much about honey bees, yet was never bored or just reading to get through. I laughed out loud a few times and I felt sadness when a character died. Hosler brilliantly wove an engaging story full of facts and emotion. What’s not to love about talking bees and flowers, gory details and some snarky humor? I found the graphics amazing in how characters could be differentiated – after all bees all look the same, right? – to how so much information could be packed into a single frame, how the frames were arranged, etc. I think this book would be a wonderful resource for learning how to illustrate a graphic novel. In the back matter Hosler talks a bit about what he had to consider when deciding how to illustrate the main characters.
The back matter is extensive! There are three pages on bee anatomy and annotated chapter notes that are packed full of information suitable for older readers including any adult with an interest in biology, bees, and insects in general. And the word for bee in six different languages, which were used for the characters’ names.
I discovered that The Way of the Hive: A Honey Bee’s Story is actually a rerelease of his work from 2000 when it was produced in black and white and called Clan Apis. I do not know what that one looked like without color, but I imagine that the color has enhanced the overall quality of the story. I really think that this is a great book for reluctant readers and anyone interested in bees and biology. An incredible amount of work, knowledge and talent went in to making this book and I hope lots of readers out there get a chance to experience it.
Lisa Connors 