Praise for The Amazing Adventures of Melissa Bee

"I love the whole story! This book captures the deeply spiritual pollinator journey, not unlike a Hero's journey in the scope of Archetype, but capturing instead the Divine Feminine Journey of self-discovery through service and communion. This work deftly integrate(s) the Science of the bee's life-cycle and imbue(s) it with the sweet mystery of Goddess principles.    I see great applications with this work and will definitely include it in my College's required texts!"-- Laura Bee Ferguson, Director, College of the Melissae, Center for Sacred Beekeeping, Ashland, Oregon collegeofthemelissae.com

"Fall into the magical world of bees. Wonderfully written and wonderfully illustrated. A GOLD MEDAL WINNER and highly recommended." The Wishing Shelf Book Awards

“This amazing bee book is a total joy to read. Each chapter is filled with knowledge about the inner life of the bees -- their magical interactions with flowers, the beautiful queen mother, the sensual life of bees, the singing drones, the spiraling swarm. Every page is pure delight. What a tremendous gift Aimee and Tim have brought into the world, a powerful and sensitive way to teach children about bees and the harmony of Nature.” - Jacqueline Freeman, www.spiritbee.com

"Oh bliss!! I just received my copy of The Amazing Adventures of Melissa Bee created by the wonderful Aimée Delphyne Lissantheia and gorgeously illustrated by Tim Lukowiak - an utterly enchanting story for all bee-hearted people, young and old. Swarm the way of this creation ... it will make your heart sing! Blessed be, blessed bees!" -- Debra Roberts, Holy Bee Press holybeepress.com

"Welcome to the magical world of bees. Learning, discovering and exploring the depth and the heart and soul of what it is to be in their world, understand their world, and learn from their world, from love. Aimée does a beautiful job of portraying this amazing world with the sweetness of her songs, the warmth of her heart and the play within her soul, as you glide and dance in this beautiful array of words and songs and imagery, that takes you into a place beyond this world, a place deep within the joy of wonder, imagination and love." -- Stacey J. Hentschel, quantumintegrations.com, awakeninnerwisdom.com

"The Amazing Adventures of Melissa Bee by Aimee Lissantheia and Tim Lukowiak is a unique and beautifully told story of Melissa Bee’s arrival in the bee hive, her instincts that drive her and her loving bee family to clean, take care of the new baby bees, construct and protect the hive and fly in search of flowers. Melissa discovers her own place in the bee world, and the commitment they have for each other and to the Queen Bee. Pure Mother Bee teaches her to trust herself and Melissa soon grows to love her world. The bees’ humming is a vibration of love and connection that binds them all to each other and their purpose.

Reading this delightful book, I quickly discovered that it is far more than a picture book story about one little bee’s adventures. Aimee Lissantheia and Tim Lukowiak have cleverly created a mixture of very likable fictitious characters, factual information about bees and their importance, and a wonderful message about the sacredness and wonder of life. The bees are models of how to love and care for each other. Although such tiny creatures, they are portrayed as having a deeper knowledge and stronger instincts that enable them to live in love and harmony. They pass this on to new generations through a vibrational humming that links them all to a source of life and love. Bright, colorful and detailed illustrations accompany the story and convey the magic and wonder of Melissa and the other bees’ adventures. My favorite picture is the one where Melissa emerges from the hive for the first time and observes with wonder a magical and beautiful world beyond – a lovely message about appreciation, wonder and gratitude for us.

The book is thoughtfully set in a dyslexia friendly font, making it accessible to readers with visual difficulties. Overall, it is attractively formatted with pages mainly alternating between text and illustrations. At the end are some useful sections that will enhance the reader’s experience of the book: a glossary, instructions on how to create a bee friendly garden, some fun bee games, a lovely section on the benefits of humming, practical information on how to deal with bee stings, and facts, beliefs and lessons we might learn from bees. I found The Amazing Adventures of Melissa Bee carefully constructed, entertaining and beautifully illustrated with a lovely message about life that weaves its way through the story – making this a book to share, perhaps over a couple of story times, discuss and treasure. A very worthy addition to any child’s home or class library. Recommended."

Reviewed By Hilary Hawkes Readers' Favorite

"A heartfelt 'Thank you!' to Aimée for her delightful, educational, and inspiring book The Amazing Adventures of Melissa Bee! The kids and I began reading it together and found it to be a great layout for bedtime reading, with many songs, and each section is like its own short story. The next day, Lyra swiped it and read the whole thing.

Lyra, Mason and I highly recommend The Amazing Adventure of Melissa Bee to our friends and family. With a glossary, bee friendly gardening tips, bee games, bee facts, and resources in the back of the book, this story could make a particularly exciting addition to a spring unit study for our homeschooling friends."

Emilia, a homeschooling Mom

Lyra (10) and Mason (5)

‘Lovely in every way. A fantastic intro. for a young child into the world of bees. The illustrations are glorious too.’
Primary school teacher, aged 47

‘Wonderful, wonderful, WONDERFUL!’
Parent, aged 30

‘This is a very cleverly written book. Not only is it a wonderfully warm story, it is also a ‘hive’ of bee facts which are interwoven into the story. I would recommend this to any parent particularly as bees are so important to gardens.’
Teacher, aged 29

‘This book is honey-sweet in every way! The illustrations are almost magical, and the children in my class enjoyed them very much. They also like the part at the end where there was help on how to create a Bee-friendly garden. The best picture book in the Wishing Shelf Book Awards this year.’
Primary Teacher, aged 28

‘There’s bee facts, fun characters, colourful drawings, and a heart-warming story. The perfect picture book.’
Parent, aged 36