The Bee squad, Boosting biodiversity in your neighbourhood
by Judy Friedlander
Reviewed by Stewart Clarke, ANBA Cairns
Today in the mail I received an advanced reader’s copy of The Bee Squad by Judy Friedlander.
This book is aimed at senior Primary / lower Secondary students. It is jam packed with information and activities on a huge number of different insects, birds, animals and plants.
The chapters include many accounts straight from ‘Local Nature Champions’, students from different Australian states aged around the 8 to 14 age group, who outline their passion and how they have gone about setting up ways to promote and protect their favourite species.
The Bee Squad has many stylised drawings related to the content and lists quite a few websites that of course may have a limited shelf life. Activities are vast and varied ranging from building ‘bug bungalows’ and ‘bee hotels’ to encouraging neighbours to create a green corridor to help cool down the suburbs.
There is information on taking better photographs and what to do with these photographs once you have captured your image. Readers are encouraged to become citizen scientists and there are many proformas to help them write to teachers or politicians in order to advance their cause. The Bee Squad tackles many current topical issues such as global warming and gives outlines for activities that would help readers develop environmental strategies, something that is missing with many other texts. These strategies would help the reader achieve positive goals within their biodiverse neighbourhood.
Although engaging and interesting, this book may be daunting to many readers as it has so much information within the covers. The language however is aimed just right for this age group as it talks about birds being ‘super poopers’ and using curious words such as ‘coolth’!
I see The Bee Squad as an invaluable resource that students could use to ‘cherry pick’ information and activities related to their particular interest. It also gives the opportunity for parents to work together with their children on some pretty cool projects.
ISBN 9781742238227, February 2025, Paperback, 208pp, 215x153mm, RRP $28, Order https://unsw.press/books/the-bee-squad/