Peace with Bees by Nadh Poduri is a children’s book about a silly, energetic elephant named Ephan who absolutely loves honey. It is written with the intent of teaching children about having compassion and facing adversity. The majority of the text is dialogue-driven, and each page is fully illustrated. The drawings are adorable – and pop out of the page with rich, stunning color; the illustrations are reminiscent of ones you might see on a children’s television show.

Parents and children who read this book together will want to talk about what stealing really means. In the book, when Ephan takes honey from the beehive, it is treated as theft. But in real life, when a professional beekeeper removes honey from a beehive, taking the honey is a good and ethical thing to do. Another part of the book that parents may want to discuss with their children is the very last page, when [spoiler alert!] Ephan’s friend Barney is stung by a swarm of bees because he took their honey and put it in his canteen. The stinging is the bees’ way of getting the honey back, and presumably a way for the author to show that Barney deserves to be punished for his actions. But in real life, getting stung by a swarm of bees is no laughing matter – even if the recipient is the bad guy. This book could act as a good conversation starter for parents and kids.

You can find Peace with Bees here.