The Bees of Notre-Dame
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
This lyrical, poignant nonfiction picture book tells the fascinating story of the honeybee colonies that lived on the roof of the Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and survived the devastating 2019 fire.
High above the bustling streets and gardens of Paris is a little-known wonder: a cluster of beehives. They sit atop the roof of the Notre-Dame cathedral, lovingly tended to by a beekeeper named Sibyle. But when fire broke out in the catherdral in 2019, the bees almost didn’t make it. Firefighters battled heat and smoke, carefully spraying their hoses around the hives, pumping in water from fireboats on the Seine, and, miraculously, they survived.
Meghan P. Browne and E. B. Goodale imbue the story of Notre-Dame’s bees and the fire that almost killed them with great hope. After the fire, there is rebuilding to be done, but with hard work and collaboration, perhaps the cathedral can be restored after all. From the rooftops of Paris to the intricacies of a beehive, here is a moving picture book about resilience in the face of disaster.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Graceful prose by Browne (Dorothy the Brave) pays homage to Paris's venerable Notre-Dame cathedral, and to the bees that lived atop it before its 2019 fire. Highlighted in soft brown lines, multimedia spreads by Goodale (The Moon Remembers) trace a young queen's mating flight above the city before she returns to a cathedral-top hive to lay eggs "in thousands of perfect hexagons." Above Paris, the hives are tended by a brown-skinned beekeeper just visible on the cathedral roof, and clad in a white bee suit and veil. But then, sudden catastrophe: fire consumes the edifice, and firefighters work "to quench the flames, to save the cathedral./ To save the hives." Goodale draws the cathedral's beekeeper working in front of the scaffolding erected to repair the building. "Rebuild," Browne writes, "Work with each other... just like the bees." The story highlights the contemporary, as city-dwellers of many skin tones patronize bookstalls and drink coffee in spring; the ancient ("This cathedral has outlived kings and queens"); and the way each species contributes, together, to flourishing community. Back matter includes photographs and details about the fire and the rebuilding. Ages 4–8. Author's agent: Alyssa Eisner Henkin, Trident Literary Group. Illustrator's agent: Lori Kilkelly, LK Literary Agency.
