Title: “I See a Bee!”
Subtitle: Baby’s First Sentences
Author: Maria McCarthy
Publisher: Xlibris
ISBN: 978-1-9845-3708-9
Genre: Illustrated Children’s Book / Language Education
Pages: 24
Reviewed by: Beth Adams
Pacific Book Review
“I See a Bee!” by author Maria McCarthy is a book containing more pictures than words, as it teaches the very first ways for babies to assemble words into sentences. It is a foundation of word and sentence structure, showing the child how to use a few simple words together in order to form a sentence.
The artful illustrations by Dwight Nacaytuna show ample detail of scenes where the baby and mother are embracing one another and talking together using the vernacular just beyond “baby words” into “real words.” The use of a verb and a noun makes for a thought to be articulated, and by examples “I See a Bee!” shows many variations of situations in which the baby can learn how to move forward in their learning to speak English. I would classify it as being a bit subliminal and subtle at the same time, as the lessons are very skillfully executed, making this book transition from a story book into the educational genre of teaching language.
Cute, adorable and loving, the book pages with a theme of learning to construct sentences by describing what the pictures show – both educating while entertaining. This book is ideal for the youngest of the single-digit baby years, for both boys and girls. It is a book which is meant to be read over and over, drilling into the young minds the path for communicating feelings and expressions; a rather difficult but enjoyable next step for the emerging language skills of infants becoming toddlers.
“I See a Bee!” would be a perfect gift for a baby shower or first-year birthday present. Certainly, soon to be outgrown in its methodology for youngsters’ zeal for ever more complicated sentences, it will remain a building brick in their foundation of talking.
