Willbee the Bumblebee product reviews

Some of Craig Smith's books have been a bit hit and miss in my mind, but good old Willbee the Bumble Bee is my absolute favourite! Being an early childhood teacher I read and listen to a lot of children's books and this one is certainly a favourite of the tamariki in my care too. Most days after lunch time we have a quiet reading time and one of the teachers will read a book or two to the tamariki. Some days it is nice to change it up and have one of our books that has a CD with it. The tamariki will often choose which one they want - and Willbee the Bumble Bee is one of the most frequently chosen books.

The pictures are nice and bright and catch the children's interest. The story also catches the interest of the children - someone showing their bottom is quite hilarious when you are under 5 years old and that is just what happens to Willbee in this book after his jersey gets caught on a rose and unravels. It is great then to see Willbee's friends help him to fix his jersey, teaching the children that it is great to help others when they need it.

We meet some of Willbee's friends along the way - Monica the Butterfly, Spider Steve - and of course the children all have their favourite! Bugs are always a topic of interest to young children so to have a book that includes these only helps with capturing their interest.

Overall a fantastic book for young children and adults alike and one that I would recommend to all.

Willbee the Bumblebee is yet another one of those children's books that children just can't get enough, and it's easy to understand why since the book comes with an audio CD sung by Craig Smith who was made famous by the very popular children's book The Wonky Donkey.

The story is about a Bumblebee called Willbee who gets very embarrassed when he realizes that his stripy jumper has caught on a rose thorn and completely unraveled, which leaves him with a bare bottom! At last a butterfly comes along and with the help of a spider they work together to re-knit Willbees Jersey, with the story ending happily. This is such a fun story which I love as do my daycare kids, it seems to be very popular with all ages with the younger children enjoying the fun tunes and pictures and the older children especially the boys loving the word "bum" of course!

The illustrations are very well done, bright and colourful and very well captured throughout the book to go with the verses to the song. The story is easy to read, although I prefer to play the CD so that I don't have to listen to myself singing, though being such a catchy some and tune you can't help but sing along most of the time! With a few short paragraphs per page children's attention seems to stay focus throughout the whole book with them being very engaged and interested with what is going on. The song rhymes as well adding to it a whole other level of enjoyment. Definitely a popular book for daycare centres to have.

Totally worth paying the $25.99 for the book lots of laughs to be had and great re-readability.

I LOVE this book and so do all the children at my daycare. It's a very catchy tune and has amazing bright coloured illustrations that will catch anyone's eye. It has that type of rhythm that makes you want to get up and boogie along to the beat. Craig Smith has done it again with another catchy, easy to read song that gets stuck in your head very easily.

Willbee is a happy go lucky bee who's jersey happens to get stuck on a thorn and begins to unravel. Poor Willbee gets stuck with no jersey all alone in the garden! Rumor has it that this was a story that Craig Smith's Mum used to tell him when he was just a young boy so he decided to make it into a sing along book to share with others.

Willbee the bumble bee explores friendship during the book and learns about helping others in need. This book is fantastic for the little movers and groovers in your life. They will love it from the moment it is turned on. Use the CD to play or if you enjoy making funny voices you could read it yourself to add a new twist to the story.

Coming after the hit that Wonky Donkey was, this book had a lot to live up to, and I have to admit that at first I wasn't sure that it did measure up. However after reading it to my pre-school daughter a few times, I was soon hooked on the tune and loving the story!

The story is about a bumblebee who's 'jersey' snags and unravels, and he's left naked and shivering until a butterfly comes to his rescue and with the help of a spider, they re-knit the jersey, and it all ends happily. The story is knitted with some fun humour and a touch of rudeness without going overboard... kids all love to hear the word 'bum'! And there's some fun stuff for the adults too - references to the woman's weekly and pictures of Willbee's mum measuring him up and knitting his jersey were both rather cute!

As fun as the song is, I thought at first that the concept of what was happening in the story might be a bit beyond younger children, however it seems this wasn't the case - I'm pretty sure my daughter got most of what was going on, or at least was satisfied with my explanations. Both myself and my daughter found ourselves humming and singing the song when we were out and about! Normally I don't like kids songs stuck in my head, but this song didn't bother me quite so much ... so there's a plus for this book right there!

As well as the fun story and great song, the illustrations are super-cute too. So all round, this is a great little book. I personally think it suits children from 3 years and upwards best ... and my daughter is now 5 and still loves it. It is able to be played over and over and does not get tiring, and as a bonus if you don't feel like reading it - just pop the CD on and that does all the work! Overall I highly recommend this book.

This is a cute little rhyming story about a little bumblebee, Willbee, whose jersey/jumper unravels on a rose thorn. It leaves him stranded and naked in the garden....oh my! It's the end of the day and the cold is setting in and just what is a naked little bee to do? Thank heavens for others in our lives that help us out of embarrassing situations and Willbee the Bumblebee manages to teach this lesson of gratitude to the young children the story is aimed at in a lovely light-hearted way.

The illustrations are just stunning, bringing the ordinary to life in the garden and helping the reader and viewer to see the beauty in the everyday things that happen. The font is easy to read and with the rhyming storyline makes it fun to read aloud to the children. Or there is also a great CD to accompany this story, setting the story to a very cool blues tune written and performed by Craig Smith. The CD is really effective in taking the story to the next level, but I do think the CD is too fast and sometimes the story is over too quickly and sometimes hard to make out what is being said.

This book really captures the attention of the reader and viewers in the case of using this book within an early childhood centre and although if read aloud instead of using the CD the story can be a tongue twister but this only adds to the un-ness of this very cool book.

I like this book and so do the children as they will request it for mat times, not one of our favourites but I can't fault the book it is very colourful, catchy story to read, bonus of having a CD. Makes for a good read and good moral to the story always helps, gives children something to think about.

Another great sing along story with a comical tale about the mishaps of Willbee the Bumble Bee. Just as much of a hit as stories like the recent Wonky Donkey and the classic We're going on a Bear Hunt. A story that children of all ages can join along to and enjoy.

I bought this book as a teaching resource when I was working at an early childhood centre as the children had enjoyed the Wonky Donkey so much I thought I would give this one a try (there is only so much Wonky Donkey you can handle day after day, week after week). I'm so glad I did as it truly was a hit! The story had the children in fits of laughter.

The favourite part of the story was the bit where Willibee showed off his bare bum. All the children laugh and giggle and pat their bums. A really sweet story with a happy ending where Willibee ends up getting a new jersey to cover back up his bare bum. It is really easy to join along to as it has lots of rhyming and simple words and does not go to fast so the children can listen and join in. The words soon become known to the children so they can sing it even without the book and CD.

As with the wonky donkey I think this book will go on to excite children and have them in fits of laughter for years to come. It is really well written and has beautiful illustrations making it the perfect book for teaching but also for your own children to love and enjoy.

Another great book Willbee the bumblebee will captivate the minds of your children just like The Wonky Donkey does!

Complete with bright funky illustrations which get children's imaginations flowing, dont be surprised if you get asked to read (or play the cd) over and over again!

Of course most children at some stage find "bums" to be a funny thing and a favourite illustration/page of most children is when Willbee loses his jersey and shows his bare bum!

The words are nice and big, with only a couple of short paragraphs per page it keeps children interested and paying attention. The story is also full of rhymes which is very entertaining ~ my age old test is it can easily hold the attention of 50 or so under five year olds from start to end ~ its gotta be good!

Fully recommend to others :)

I discovered Craig's books through the Wonky Donkey, and his subsequent CD, and as soon as I heard Willibee the Bumblebee I wanted to purchase the book.

I think my favourite line is when the pattern was from the womanâ ™s weekly, how Kiwi is that? I think we have all had a favourite jumper that originated from the womanâ ™s weekly - knitted by someone we love!

This book appeals to the whole family with the fun text, and lovely rhythm to the story. Toddlers through to grown-ups grin at Willibee's bare bum!

The illustrations are just beautiful, Willibee is delightful, and the countryside is bright and detailed. I think this is another must have book for kiwi families.

This book is value for money it will be read and read until it wears out!

We got this book because The Wonky Donkey was so popular with the kids. The children are often bringing it to me to read with them (or rather play the CD while we turn the pages together). My toddler calls this book Bum Bum Bum and loved dancing to the music. We love Craig Smith's books and songs and every time he brings out something new we make sure we get it.

Willbee is a great follow up book to the Wonky Donkey and just as catchy and readable. The illustrations are fantastic, colourful and really add to the text allowing my daughter to imagine the garden creatures and the situation they are facing. The book itself is great value for money, as it comes with a CD of the song as well. That way we can enjoy the book in the car or at home. Our favourite time to read this is at bedtime, and it definitely gets an outing every few days. Often my daughter wants me to read it over and over again, she finds the story so funny.

Willbee the Bumblebee is a wonderful story. As soon as my daughter saw the book she got excited as it looks similar to The Wonky Donkey which she adores!!

The illustrations are very colourful and amusing for the young children. My daughter's favourite illustration is when Willbee loses his jersey and shows his bare bum!

The words are nice and big, with only a couple of short paragraphs per page. The story is full of rhymes which is very entertaining.

My daughter loves the cd that comes with the book and insists it gets played every time she pulls the book out.

If i had to pick a winner of the two stories then "The Wonky Donkey" is the winner, with "Willbee the Bumblebee" a close second!!

Well done guys. It's great to see more NZ writers being published.

This book looks fantastic from when you first look at it, with bright colours and funny looking characters, and all the way through with great drawings. The story is simple and fun with lots of rhyming to encourage repetition for learning.

My three year old took to this book straight away, flipping through the pages, pointing out all the different insects that she knew and now, even though she couldn't read it herself, once I had read it to her a couple of times, she likes to make up stories from looking at the pages.

What really took her by surprise was the CD that was included. I put this on and she listened to the story being sung, and she even got up and danced about with the music.

Now she loves the book so much she often asks to have it read to her, by myself, and even her older sister will sit down on the couch and read it with her, although she does have to be careful of her little brother who tries his best to 'borrow' it from her.