Awards

The Pennsylvania Center for the Book celebrates outstanding books, authors, and literary achievement through four signature awards: The Baker’s Dozen: Thirteen Best Books for Family Literacy, The Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, The Lynd Ward Graphic Novel Prize, and Pennsylvania Great Reads from Great Places. Together, these programs recognize excellence in family literacy, children’s poetry, graphic novels, and books that reflect Pennsylvania’s rich literary heritage. By honoring exceptional literary works and connecting readers with engaging and meaningful stories, the Pennsylvania Center for the Book promotes lifelong reading, literacy, and a love of literature across the Commonwealth and beyond.

Search Awards

The Honeybee

By Kirsten Hall
Illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Published by Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2018
Young Readers
Cover image of the Honeybee

Pennsylvania Center for the Book Awards

Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award 2019 Honor Book

The Honeybee is an outright delight: zippy, breezy, and buzzy, illuminated by stunning illustrations in shades of fluorescent yellow and orange.

The language is the “Queen Bee” in this one. It is nothing short of delightful to read aloud (even if you are the only one in the room). The pacing varies like the activity of a worker bee moving through the season and the art is perfectly paired with the language. The bonus is that you leave the last page filled with both delight and new knowledge of honey bees.

The Honeybee by Kirsten Hall is rich with word-play, rhythm, and fun that explains the lives of honeybees in a single book-length poem. The illustrations by Isabelle Arsenault are fully a part of the poem as they mix the words into the drawings to add even more energy and buzz to this beautiful book.