The Town That Brought Back The Bees

Brittney Oden is an award-winning teacher on a mission to get more science into special education classrooms. She has started the Tell Me More series to shine a light on both the need for reading literacy through science and to promote awareness of environmental issues. Brittney graduated from Arizona State University with a bachelor’s in elementary and special education, and a master’s in educational psychology with a focus in creative thinking from Texas A&M. She lives in Tempe, Arizona with her husband and son.

Martyna Cwiek is a freelance illustrator and designer living in an ontario suburb with her husband, dog and guinea pigs. She spends her free time drawing, reading science fiction and poorly attempting to grow vegetables.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the new book from Brittney Oden… This book combines scientific facts with high interest characters that makes the reader cheer on the townspeople and bees. As an educator, I especially enjoy the focus on academic vocabulary instruction and the teacher’s guide. This book should be a staple in any classroom. The author masterfully blended science instruction through the art of story-telling that will leave readers wanting to know what is next for Nell, MariAnn, and their colonies; and most importantly what can students do to support their local bee population. This book will definitely be added to my classroom library.” -Trish Geraghty, Director of School Support and Improvement

“This could easily be implemented in a classroom as a resource to teach about pollinators.” -Allison Travis, High School Science Teacher

“There aren’t enough stories which take this level of care when explaining the importance of insects within our ecosystem. ‘The Town That Brought Back the Bees’ is an important book, which imparts important complex science in a way that is both meaningful and comprehensible to the child.” – Eliza Cwiek, Early Childhood Educator in PDSB