The Bee Man of Orn

Occasionally I come across a reference to a children’s or a young adult book that I must pursue. It might be a catalog or a review in the Sunday newspaper. I’ve been known to leaf through The Horn Book (magazine which reviews children's and young adult books) in the library or scan the shelves in the children’s section. “Mommy, what’s that old man doing where our books are?” Not so strange, though. In the dim recesses of time I was an elementary school librarian, then moved to junior high, skipped high school and became a community college librarian, before becoming a director of a community college library.

Anyway, I came across a review of The Bee Man of Orn by Frank R. Stockton with illustration by P.J. Lynch. (Candlewick Press, 2003.) Stockton is the fellow who wrote “The Lady or the Tiger?” which kept all of my class baffled when I was in the eighth grade. "But..but..you didn’t tell which door was chosen." Anyway, I had not read the Bee Man previously and the story is quite entertaining as well as enlightening. But it’s the illustrations that make this oversized book. They are wonderful. Lynch uses a medieval setting. His illustrations of the bee man, the imp, the languid youth, the dragon are excellent. This story has also been illustrated by Maurice Sendak, whose style has been touted often enough. But not for this story, imho. Check this out. See if your local library has it or can get it. It’s worth a half-hour’s perusal. And you get a moral ending, sort of.