The Case of the Buzzing Honey Makers

The books in “A Gumboot Kids Nature Mystery” series are based on episodes from the award-winning CBC Kids program The Gumboot Kids. According to the show’s website, “filmmakers Eric Hogan and Tara Hungerford [who are also husband and wife] set out to make the kind of TV show they'd want their children to watch. They combined their love of nature with the yearning they felt to slow down and connect with each other and the natural world in a more meaningful, heart-centered way.”

The Gumboot Kids are a pair of rubber boot-wearing anthropomorphic felt mice, Scout and Daisy. In each title, one of the friends poses a nature-based mystery that needs to be solved, with that mystery being expressed by the book’s title. One of the mice pair presents the other one with three clues which are to be used in solving the mystery. When the duo put the clues together and come up with what they believe to be the correct solution, they confirm their conclusion by consulting, and quoting from, a book on the appropriate subject. The two then pause for “a mindful moment” in which they reflect on their experience and, to some degree, generalize their learning. The final four text pages are evenly divided between “Field Notes” and “Nature Craft”, with the former containing a glossary and/or factual information appropriate to the book’s subject matter. The three-step “Nature Craft” also connects to the book’s subject matter. Depending upon the age and level of interest of the listening child, the adult reader of the book may choose not to utilize these pages as their reading level is higher than the rest of the text.

The TV show is a combination of stop-motion and live-action, but the books’ full-colour illustrations are stills from the stop-motion two-to-five minute nature mystery portions of an episode. As such, the illustrations are full of details to be examined, and the posed rodent friends do have a real-life appearance to them. The three mystery clues are presented not only via the text but also visually usually via close ups of sketches one of the friends has made in a field notebook. A strong hint to the mystery’s solution is presented on the books’ covers via an object under a magnifying glass and the caption “LEARN ABOUT”.

In The Case of the Buzzing Honey Makers, it’s summertime, and the (overdressed?) wool sweater-wearing pair are at a farmers’ market, and Scout can’t find any honey to purchase. Holding up a jar, Daisy admits, “I think I bought the last one.” When she “reads the label. ‘It says it’s made by the buzzing honey makers.’” Scout decides that finding the buzzing honey makers will lead to more honey. In this book, it is not a field notebook that offers the visual clues. Instead, it’s the label on the honey jar that provides images of a meadow and a tree trunk. The pair follow the clues, eventually arriving at a bee-filled tree. Remaining at a safe distance, the pair use Daisy’s book on bees to ascertain what the bees are doing in the tree. The text and illustrations in Daisy’s book provide them with a brief explanation of the bee’s honey producing process. One of the “Field Notes” pages provides a labelled image of a worker honey bee with the bee’s five major parts being defined in a glossary. The other page contains additional factual information about bees, including photos and explanations of the three bee types, the queen, workers and drones. The “Nature Craft” suggests that children make a “bee hotel” for solitary bees.

While the contents of The Case of the Buzzing Honey Makers are useful, it is less successful than other books in the series. To begin with, the creators have missed the mark on appropriate seasonal dress for Scout and Daisy. In terms of learning, without adult intervention, children could be left with the mistaken impression that their store-bought honey has been harvested from the wild. The pair’s going to the library to get a book on bees would be believable, but Daisy’s just having one along pushes credibility. The suggested “Nature Craft” has two problems, with the first being an inadequate explanation of what a “solitary” bee is. The second relates to the materials needed to produce the craft. Step 2, which is accompanied by an illustration of the desired item, calls for “Find[ing] a structure in which to build your hotel. You can use a small wooden box. It works best if it has compartments.” Good luck, Mom and Dad, in finding one of those around the house [or even at a craft store].