Bank Street College of Education names BEGIN WITH A BEE a Best Children's Book of the Year

Begin with a Bee, by Liza Ketchum, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, and Phyllis Root, with illustrations by Claudia McGehee, has been named one of Bank Street College of Education's best children's books of the year in the five-to-ten-year-old age range. 

Begin with a Bee and its story of the life of one queen bee, a rusty-patched bumblebee, teaches us not only about bees but also about our own responsibilities in the natural world

Begin with a Bee, by Liza Ketchum, Jacqueline Briggs Martin, and Phyllis Root, with illustrations by Claudia McGehee, has been named one of Bank Street College of Education's best children's books of the year in the five-to-ten-year-old age range. 

In choosing books for the annual list, reviewers consider literary quality and excellence of presentation as well as the potential emotional impact of the books on young readers. Other criteria include credibility of characterization and plot, authenticity of time and place, age suitability, positive treatment of ethnic and religious differences, and the absence of stereotypes. Each book accepted for the list is read and reviewed by at least two committee members and then discussed by the committee as a whole.

See the full lists (for all age groups) at Bank Street College of Education.