A Story of the Seasons Sylvia Plath Kept Bees
A TRUE TALE WITH
A CHERRY ON TOP
Viking
(Penguin Random House)
(pub. 2.11.2025)
32 pages
Ages 4 - 8
Author: Amy Novesky
Illustrator: Jessica Love
Character: Sylvia Plath
Overview:
" Sylvia Plath is remembered for her stirring poetry and the tragic legacy her work left behind. But it is lesser known that she was a beekeeper and completed her last book of poems while tending to her bees and harvesting honey.
The Poet an the Bees shines a new light on the life and work of Plath through the lens of her last seasons with her beloved bees—and how during their short and busy lives, they filled her with inspiration and hope."
Tantalizing taste:
"Love, my seasons.
Love, bees don't live long.
Alive for a bright, quick moment, then gone.
Their work done.
Little bodies given to the ground.
But honey lives forever. Words, too."
And something more: Amy Novesky shared in the About Sylvia Plath section: "[Her book titled] Ariel was published in 1965. But the poems were not printed in the order that Sylvia had left them; her husband had put then in an order he felt was stronger and more reflective of her narrative.
The Poet and the Bees was inspired by Sylvia's original manuscript, which, the poet noted, began with the word love and ended with her series of bee poems...The final word of the collection was spring. Love and spring. Two hopeful words reflecting a poet's love of the world and its small beauties, like books, babies, and bees."
Author Amy Novesky explains "I write poems and keep bees, too [and I've had the pleasure of savoring Amy's bees' delicious honey]. I wanted to write this story because, despite being a writer, one of the only things I knew about Sylvia Plath was how she took her life... And of course, she is so much more than her legendary death.
I want young readers to know that. Sylvia felt things deeply, didn't shy away from the tough stuff, and had a sharp sense of humor, and those qualities show in her poems, many of which are honest and intense."
Writer and poet Amy Novesky, as always with her beautiful lyrical language, found a way to share a story of poet Sylvia Plath that not only rings true, but resonates, inspires and uplifts the reader.
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