Mooloolah Valley native beekeeper Matthew Middleton is celebrating a second international award for his illustrated children’s book, Princess Bee and the Boy.
The book has just won a Silver Nautilus award, beating hundreds of entries from around the world. This win for Princess Bee and the Boy comes on top of the bronze Moonbeam award collected last year, which is given to books that “bring increased recognition to exemplary children’s books and their creators, and are dedicated to supporting childhood literacy and life-long reading.”
“I am just so thrilled to think that our little self-published book is spreading the word about the importance of looking after the world’s native bees,” Mr Middleton, who runs the native bee business Beezotted, said.
As part of their school and community shows on native bees, the Beezotted team performs the story, accompanied by didgeridoo. In recent months, Beezotted has performed at schools and daycare centres around the Sunshine Coast and run a sold-out series of library workshops for adults on making homes for native solitary bees.
Copies of Princess Bee and the Boy are available at www.beezotted.com.au/shop/ and also at Rosetta bookshop in Maleny, and Australian libraries.