Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees
$29.99
Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees
2024 NZ STORYLINES NOTABLE BOOK AWARD WINNER!
2025 BOOK DESIGN AWARDS FINALIST FOR BEST EDUCATIONAL BOOK – PRIMARY.
Publishers Association of New Zealand Te Rau o Tākupu (PANZ) Book Design Awards
2025 Whitley Book Awards Australasian region ‘Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees: Native Bees of Aotearoa New Zealand’ Best Children’s Educational Book 2025 Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales
Hardcover Edition
Most people are not aware that New Zealand has native bees, but once you meet them, you’re sure to fall in love with them! With 36 stunning photographic images, fun illustrations and diagrams, Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees is an informative, interactive visual feast!
Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees connects children to the world around them, where native bees, ngaro huruhuru, have had a long evolutionary history with New Zealand’s unique heritage – they are a taonga!
Short videos (QR codes in book) of native bees available to view on my RESOURCES PAGE. Visit there to view these cool little bees!
Endorsements:
“This is a beautiful book on our special native bees; it’s crammed full of fascinating information. I’m excited to meet a future generation of kids already pre-loaded with native bee facts!”
– David Pattemore, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Ltd
“Not only for kids! This is a book for everyone who is interested in New Zealand’s nature. Rachel Weston has achieved something that was long overdue: compiling all facts about native bees, beautifully wrapped in marvellous colours of words, photos and illustrations. You will discover new things from the bee’s world every time you look into this book.”– Julia Kasper, Lead Curator Invertebrates, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa
Description
Author: Rachel Weston
Illustrator: Richard Hoit
Publisher: Weston Books Ltd
Date of publication: 5th September 2024
Age group: 5 years – 99 years
Size: 260mm x 215 mm, Portrait
32 pages full colour
Hardcover. Matte Laminated. Section Sewn
RRP $29.99
ISBN 978-0-473-71396-6
Printed on paper sourced from sustainable forests – FSC certified paper
Plus $9.50 P&H in NZ (flat rate for 1 copy or more)
Rural delivery is an additional $4.50
Trade store orders contact: Bookreps NZ (formally PDL) email: orders@bookreps.co.nz
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Evplug –
Really loved this – what an enchanting introduction to ngaro huruhuru! The way you compare bumblebees to Mack trucks and our native bees to zippy scooters is absolutely brilliant 🐝. Learned so much—like how those tiny pollinators are vital to our kōrero about Aotearoa’s taonga flora—and now I’m buzzing with curiosity!
Thanks for shining a light on our special little pollinators—exactly the kind of bee joy we all need 😊
Markus –
I got your book and enjoyed reading it. Nicely done and explained. I have downloaded the posters. Thank you for making them available.
Angela Thompson, Library & Literacy Lead Teacher, Remarkables Primary, –
This is a wonderfully set out children’s nonfiction book with something for everyone. Each page is clearly set out with information for confident readers, but also facts, diagrams and photographs for those less confident. The bright layout is really appealing and works well.
I also love the use of QR codes to go further through technology. The glossary and index are not overcomplicated as in some non-fiction books and really easy to follow.
I read this with my Year 3 class and we learned lots of new things about bees. It is rare to see such a clear and concise non-fiction book for students, and this has been created perfectly.
Hannah Taylor-Rose, Waipu –
Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees is an introduction to native bees / ngaro huruhuru of New Zealand. This stunning book is brimming with information about these often-over-looked insects.
Rachel Weston uses a conversational tone to make the information interesting and easy to understand.
She employs analogies well to explain concepts simply, such as the size of different bees, bumblebees being Mack trucks, honey bees as cars and native bees being scooters.
She likens the 28 different native bee species to a class of children —each unique in their own way..
Weston’s enthusiasm for native bees is easy to catch while reading her fascinating facts. She covers a wealth of information about different species, their habitats, life cycles and threats. I found myself soon reading aloud information to share with my family.
Diagrams, illustrations and photos are used throughout the book to support the text’s information.
Weston has also included many QR code links in the book to videos that readers can watch of different native bees in action.
The book is very well formatted with a thorough contents page, index and glossary. This is a great reference book and an enjoyable read for nature-lovers of all ages.
Highly recommended!
Vanessa DC –
My kids absolutely love this book! The QR codes are a great addition and add so much to their learning and understanding. As a whānau, we have learnt so much about bees! ~Vanessa
Adele –
This hardback book is beautifully produced and absolutely chocka with ngaro huruhuru – native bee facts, info bubbles, photos and illustrations.
At first the reader is introduced to these tiny creatures – their sizes, different groups and names. There are amazing close up photos of each type of bee, showing how distinct they are from each other.
We learn about their jobs in nature, their workload (for the Mama bees), and their families. The life cycle of these bees is illustrated within the plethora of full colour illustrations and photos, along with their senses, habitats and threats against them. We even meet stunning native bees from around the world.
With a How Can You Help? page, a full glossary, index, and over a dozen sources and online resources to check native bees out further, we can learn even more about our amazing ngaro huruhuru o Aotearoa / Native Bees of New Zealand.
I can’t help thinking of all the (flies) I’ve shooed away, when all along they could of been our tiny, friendly bees!
Excellent New Zealand Non-Fiction for every kind of library – not just schools!
Adele Broadbent, What Book Next.com
Karen McMillan NZ Booklovers –
This book is a must-have for all families. I had no idea about our amazing native bees until I read this delightful nonfiction book for children. Rachel has a fabulous way with words, and the illustrations and photographs are gorgeous. They bring these beautiful creatures wonderfully to life.
It was fascinating to learn more bee facts about these gorgeous creatures. We have 28 native bees, including the hairy bees, the masked bees and the sweat bees, and Rachel shares everything you would need to know about them in a child-friendly and very fun way.
Rachel is right; native bees are a New Zealand treasure, and so is her excellent book. Every home, school and library should have a copy.
Review by NZ Booklovers
Trevor Agnew –
Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees is a superb introduction to some overlooked native creatures. These are ngaro huruhuru (native bees) and they are tiny, gentle and hard-working. They also have five eyes!
Every page is a surprise. The diagrams, cartoons, maps, cross-sections and colour photographs illustrate every aspect of native bee life. In her always gripping and lively text, Rachel Weston makes full use of storytelling techniques, word play, metaphors and even riddles to make things clear to young readers. (And adult readers too.)
Who can forget her explanation of the bee size difference? ‘If bumblebees are like the big Mack trucks bustling down the highway and honey bees are like a million whizzing cars, then native bees are the zippy little scooters.’
This is science writing for young readers at its best.
The fact boxes are fascinating as well. ‘Native bees do not make honey.’ On the other hand, some blow nectar bubbles and suck them. The sandfly-sized sweat bees enjoy sucking up sweat from human bodies on hot days. The author is reassuring, ‘Don’t worry, it’s not sucking your blood.’ We learn that Mama Bees are multi-tasking solo mothers: they make tunnels, dig their nests, lay eggs, collect and store food for their young.
QR codes provide readers with short bee movies, with amazing scenes of busy little pollinators and home builders at work. There is also a bee poster and some teacher resources.
The impressive and imaginative design and layout of Kiwi Bees Have Tiny Knees is by Sarah Elworthy.
A Glossary and Guide to Sources are included. There is a superb index which is slightly undermined by the fact that seven pages aren’t numbered. The other page numbers are in small type and are often hard to spot. This is a pity in a book which is going to be well used.
On the positive side, this wonderful book is a hardback, so it’s going to last for years as a useful and unique resource.
Or, as Rachel Weston puts it, ‘these cool little bee-bops’ are ‘a New Zealand treasure.’
Trevor Agnew, The Source
Bob Docherty –
This hardback picture book sized book on native NZ Bees is the bees knees of such books for primary and intermediate readers although older readers will be amazed at the content.
The opening lines of this book tell us that NZ 28 species of native bees, they are mostly black, very small and are an essential part in the pollination of native trees and other plants. I never new this.
there are three main groups Hairy Bees, Masked Bees and Sweat Bees and they all build their nests in sandy soil in underground tunnels. They have a stinger but rarely sting people and they live off nectar and sweat from animals including humans.
The female bees collect the pollen but do not make honey. they lay their eggs underground but die before their offspring are born. Male bees do very little except fertilise the eggs then die.
Their life cycle is much like any insect Egg-larva-pupa-adult and after a flush of activity in spring and summer they hibernate for up to 9 months. What a life!!
Beautifully illustrated with bite sized pieces of essential information including QR Codes which the reader can scan to see images and videos of the bees in action.
A very classy piece of work that all schools should have in their libraries. An award winning book if I have ever seen one. ~ Bob Docherty
Childrens and Young Adult Book Reviews by Bob Docherty
Paula Green, Poetry Box –
I had no idea we had native bees ngaro huruhuru. Thanks to Rachel’s diligent research and observations, I now know a truckload of fascinating things. These bees (28 species!) are gentle and unique, and 27 of the species are only found in Aotearoa.
Rachel has a gift with words. She can take a fact (these bees are really really small) and use great analogies (children-friendly) to illuminate the fact. For example: “If bumblebees are like big Mack trucks bustling down the highway and honey bees are like a million whizzing cars, then native bees are the zippy little scooters.” Brilliant!
Each page spread includes fascinating insets: “Let’s take a closer look”, “Big facts about small bees”, stunning photographs and artwork . . . and a barcode you can scan to watch bee-related things.
Fascinating fact! Our native bees aren’t honey bees, they are pollinators. Rachel also writes with a sense of humour! She asks how the bees move the pollen around – and immediately discounts the idea of a bee-mobile. Cute picture of bee in a bee-mobile included. But no, pollen sticks to the bee’s legs when they drink nectar to get that all important bee-energy.
Every single page spread is a double dose of fascination – so perfectly designed, so sweetly written, so informative. The book invites us to share the native bee ngaro huruhuru love and tell our friends and family about “these cool little bee bops”. It also suggests we avoid chemical sprays in our gardens, plant native trees and make a small, messy, undisturbed area with some dirt that’s unplanted where insects can build their nests. Oh and leave a strip of unmown lawn as bees love clover and dandelions!
Kiwi Bees Have Small Knees should be in every school library and in every kid’s bedroom! It really is an extraordinary BEE JOY book to read and share. I reckon I need to read Rachel’s other books now she is a writing whizz!
Poetry Box review by Paula Green
Lee Murray, The Spinoff’s best NZ books of 2024 –
I absolutely love this gorgeous nonfiction picture book which has had our Bay of Plenty tamariki in its thrall since its release in September. Readily recognisable by its cover – a bee resplendent in pōhutukawa red – the text, photographs, and interactive activities are equally vibrant, perfect for shared reading in schools and at home. Informative and engaging, no other book features our native bees and their importance to our ecosystem. Already a Notable Book Award-winner for nonfiction, this book is sure to be a Kiwi classic. / Lee Murray, author of Fox Spirit on a Distant Cloud