#the thing about bees a love letter
What inspired you to write The Thing About Bees?
I wrote the book because I have a ridiculous fear of bees. When my sons were born I didn’t want to pass that fear to them, so I set out to discover all I could about the little buzzers.
What did you find out?
I learned three things about bees. First I learned that every living creature has a special part to play in the world, and that includes grownups and kids. Second, when I learn more about a scary thing, the thing feels less scary to me. Third, I researched which bees and wasps are kind and which are kinda mean, and made it into a chart for the book.
What do you hope to be the takeaway to your book?
I hope kids will understand that it’s brave to understand the things that scare us. This can be scary objects like bees, but it can also be people who are different from us. The book is all about love. Love is magic. Love is super power. Love conquers fear. It’s so important that I even wrote it in big letters on the back cover of the book!
What do you think about fatherhood?
It scares me! (ha, ha!) There’s so much responsibility. I have to show my two sons how to be brave when I’m not always brave myself.
What does it mean to you to be a Black father?
I’m fortunate to have a father my whole life who loves me a great deal. He was in the military and for years would be gone six months at a time, so I had a limited role model and relied on the media to see what it was like to be a Black father. This is why it is so important to see our true experience reflected in books, tv, and movies.
You credited in the Copyright page that the art was inspired by Kehinde Wiley and Norman Rockwell. In what ways?
Kehinde Wiley is most famous for painting the official portrait of President Obama. He’s known to use Old Masters paintings as reference and then replace the figures with contemporary Black people. The first time I saw his work I was so moved I cried! I was in college and I saw this figure of a king who looked like my high school best friend. I never thought a Black man can be a king! By simply showing people in different roles it changed how I saw myself and my community. It’s so powerful!
Norman Rockwell was an inspiration for the way he showed how small town America can be so beautiful. So I followed his approach—by taking a series of posed photos of myself and my family—and showed my hometown of Nashville. But like Kehinde, I want to show a small town America with a loving Black family, and with dad spending time with his sons. There are many families like ours.
This is your third book, after your illustration debut in Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table and your author/illustrator debut in A Moose Boosh: A Few Choice Words About Food. How are they different?
I came from an advertising background and was still finding my style when I illustrated Farmer Will Allen. The style is more traditional in what I thought children’s book illustration would look. For A Moose Boosh, I wanted to break away from tradition, so I created “vandalized art” by adding white doddleling over photos I took. It was a closer reflection of who I am. For The Thing About Bees, I started with a traditional painterly style and then add on cartoon images to give it a twist. The opening pollination chart is meant to be like a Pixar short before the movie. Something to set the mood!
Why do you think communities of color are often left out of discussions on environmental issues?
People often think city kids have very little to do with preserving our environment. But when bad things happen to our environment it always hurts the poor people first! People of color need to be aware and take action even if they often are not given a voice in these issues. We need to take action. Learn about issues. Save the bees!
Finally, what do you want readers to know about your work?
I think it’s important to remember this: You can’t be what you can’t see. I want to make books that represent the images of people that I always wanted to be, but could never find representations of people that looked like me.
Learn more about The Thing About Bees: A Love Letter through the fantastic book trailer here.
Shabazz Larkin made his picture book illustrator debut with Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table and his author/illustrator with A Moose Boosh: A Few Choice Words About Food. Both were named Notable Children’s books by the American Library Association and published by READERS to EATERS. He is a multi-disciplinary artist and an advertising creative director. He lives in Nashville, Tennessee, with his wife and two sons. More about Shabazz at shabazzlarkin.com. Follow him @shabazzlarkin.
