Introducing the Do'Bees

The Do'Bees is a relatively new series of children's books penned by publisher, businessman and entrepreneur Kyle Donovan. The purpose of the series is a uplifting one, to help convince youngsters that they can be(e) anything that they want to be in life. The series is on it's second character-focused installment now with those two books following the inaugural volume "Introducing the Do'Bees".

"Introducing..." spends a few pages highlighting each of the six bees giving the reader a super high level overview of their key personality traits. Essentially, this introduction tees up the subsequent books perfectly by giving children a glimpse into each bee's most endearing (or frustrating) quality - that quality to be flushed out in narrative form later on down the line. The bees are into mostly pleasant things like race cars (CurBee) and trying new things (BillyBee) but a couple of them have tendencies that I find more than a tad unusual for inclusion in a kid's book. HoniBee wants more than anything to be a famous singer and actress. It's the famous bit that confounds me. Feeding a culture already obsessed with fame and idolatry seems an odd path for book aimed at preschoolers. Then there's Angilo Elibee (the only bee with more than one name) who lustily craves monetary wealth but for no apparent reason. Angilo just saves and saves with the ultimate goal of being the richest bee of all. Interesting.

Now, I do understand the foundation of the content. Author Kyle Donovan drew inspiration for the books from his daughter's ever-changing answer to the $10,000 question: "what do you want to be when you grow up?" And I can see a young gal in the 21st century wanting all of the things described in the Do'Bees book. So in that regard the book makes sense. I am using "Introducing the Do'Bees", a cute book that the Bear has really taken a liking to since first reading it a week ago, to explain that some people in the world have wants and priorities that are far different than what we go after in life. That some folks spend their days chasing down things that in the end have very little substance. I must say that I do appreciate the book for opening up this kind of conversation in our house. I am quite curious to see how the wants of HoniBee and Angilo are handled in future installments.

The Do'Bees series is hyper-illustrated with so many images and colors on each page that it's at times unbearable yet simultaneously eye-catching. It is definitely unlike anything else in the house.

Check out the snazzy Official Do'Bee website where you will find ordering info and details on the next two Do'Bee books, highlighting HoniBee and CurBee.