A review by corncobwebs
The Case of the Vanishing Honeybees: A Scientific Mystery by Sandra Markle

This book is great high-interest non-fiction for kids -- I can see it being useful in a classroom setting or for assignments, or just for general browsing. I learned a lot about honeybees -- I didn't know about CCD, and I didn't realize the extent to which honeybees are responsible for producing fresh fruits and vegetables. The photographs are excellent, and really complement/elevate the text. I just read [b:Flight of the Honey Bee|17262360|Flight of the Honey Bee|Raymond Huber|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1367256873s/17262360.jpg|23859160], and that was OK -- it uses paintings instead of photographs (in non-fiction, I always prefer photographs, especially for scientific subjects), and the text is kind of flowery and poetic. Also, the author kind of personifies one of the bees (calling her "Scout"), which I wasn't sure was the best choice for a non-fiction book. All that to say, out of the recently published books for kids about honeybees, I think Markle's book is superior.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that the title bills it as a "mystery" -- when I see the word mystery, I expect some kind of solution to be revealed at the end. I kept turning the pages because I really wanted to find out what was happening to these honeybees. But then it turns out that the answer is inconclusive at this point, or else it's an amalgamation of a variety of factors. I would have liked it better if there was a big "Ah ha!" moment where you figure out what happens.

Overall, though, this is an excellent book!