The Busy Bee

Author: Abu Talhah
Illustrator: Aqsa Iftiqhar
Publisher: Greenbird Books

The Busy Bee is very busy! She starts her day early in the morning and doesn’t stop till all her jobs are done. On one particular day things turn out a little different for Busy Bee when she meets Bear.

The Busy Bee is exactly that; busy and rushing around here and there. Until one day a gust of wind sends her in an unexpected direction.

The story itself is short but sweet and did appeal to my little Bee, but if I am honest I myself was left feeling slightly underwhelmed. The first page includes a hadith which I believe was an intro to the story. However I couldn’t personally see how this hadith related to the story itself.

References to Islam were brief and only mentioned twice. Once when the Bee prays to Allah to keep her safe, and finally at the end which is what the moral of the story is:

‘Enjoy all that Allah has made, especially when you are out and about!’

One other thing that did stick out for me was when it was suggested that the Bee could come to a ‘watery end’ if she landed on top of a gushing fountain. I did find myself wondering if that was appropriate for a young child.

The illustrations are basic and colourful and they appealed to Bee. She loved see what the Bee was getting up to in each of the pictures and talking about it.