The Adventures of Maya the Bee

Maya hatches into a busy hive and almost at once breaks its first rule, leaving to see the world for herself. What follows is a summer of encounters with a vain fly, a rude grasshopper, a dung beetle and a spider who nearly finishes her, told with real entomological curiosity under the whimsy. The book turns serious when Maya falls into the hands of the hornets and overhears their plan to raid her old home. She can keep quiet and live, or warn the bees she walked out on and pay for it. First published in Germany in 1912, it became one of the most translated German children’s books ever written, long before television found it. Read it free here in PDF and EPUB.