I so enjoy watching the local wildlife during the winter months. It never fails to amaze me how resilient and adaptable birds and animals are when temperatures drop and cold winds howl through the night. I’ve mentioned in earlier columns how much fun I have observing and feeding hummingbirds. They’re a joy to watch at any time of the year, but I’m especially captivated by their wintertime activities. How do these tiny birds adjust to our chilly winters? All I know is that whenever I venture outside on a frosty morning or a cold, rainy afternoon to refill the hummingbird feeder, I am almost always “buzzed” by the neighborhood hummers. Their noisy chirps and zippy fly-bys make me smile every time.
If poetry came easily to me, I would gladly take inspiration from Mother Nature. Alas, I am no poetess; but thank goodness for those who do have the gift for poetical composition. And how wonderful when that gift reaches across generations as does this week’s sweet picture book, “Winter Bees & Other Poems of the Cold.”
Written with young readers in mind, I have to say that this adult reader thoroughly enjoyed the poems and the illustrations. The twelve poems making up this collection are short pieces, perfect for young, busy brains. But please do not equate brevity with over-simplified language or uninspired imagery. The poems as well as the illustrations are quite lovely, paying tribute to the often hidden magic quietly taking place each winter.
An example of that winter magic shines through in the poem “Winter Bees.” With the bees acting as the poem’s narrators, here is part of what they have to say: “We scaled a million blooms / to reap the summer’s glow. / Now, in the merciless cold, / we share each morsel of heat, / each honeyed crumb. / We cram to a sizzling ball / to warm our queen, our heart, our home.” And to help young readers (and older ones, too, I’m happy to admit) learn a little bit more about the poems’ subjects — moose, voles, chickadees to name just a few — each poem is accompanied by a short but illuminating science lesson. Regarding the winter bees, I learned that “as the air turns colder, bees begin to cluster around their queen, who represents the future of the hive. … When hive temperatures drop to dangerous levels, the outer-rim bees sound the alarm and the cluster begins to ‘shiver’ — flex their flight muscles — to generate heat.” I just love learning new things!
