Gettin’ Bizzy

I am sorry to say, I am not a fan of David Shannon. I can appreciate the hard work that goes into creating his art and his stories, but they have never really been my cup of tea. The illustrations are disjointed and harsh to my eyes. With that said, I know many people who enjoy his works and to them I say, “Fantastic!” Because it is always nice to know someone likes a book (even if it is not one you enjoy).

I was about to not read Bizzy Mizz Lizzie by Shannon because the cover was a true David Shannon creation: mismatched, jumbled and all over the place! Yet, there is also more to the story than his No, David! series. While the bees have big, buggy eyes, and the colors scream out at you, the story is actually very nice.

Our heroine, Bizzy Mizz Lizzie is one very busy bee! She does not have time to sit in the garden or have fun. She is too bizzy getting straight B’s (which is better than straight A’s in Bee School). And when Lizzie is chosen for the spelling championship Lizzie is very excited and wants to win so she can meet the Queen Bee herself. However, poor Lizzie does not realize that sometimes there is such a thing as doing too much and being too bizzy!

This is a fun story about taking time out to smell the flowers (and after all, is that not what bees should be doing?)