Douglas Florian teaches readers about bees in a new book of poems called UnBEElievables. In his latest book, each poem is paired with a colorful image that illustrates  a different type of bee and its role in the group. Every page is full of fun and interesting facts about these social insects. TFK: When you brainstorm for a story, which comes first: the images or the poems? FLORIAN: Usually the poems come first. For a book of 21 poems, for example, I'll actually write about 50 poems first. Although I sometimes have images in my mind to go along with the words, I have to choose which ones I want to include in the book. TFK: Many of your books, including UnBEElievables, are about insects and animals. How did these become your favorite subjects? FLORIAN: There is so much humor in the animal world. People have a lot of knowledge about animals and ideas about animals that are fun to explore in writing. Animals are just so interesting. When I research, I find out so many new and amazing facts. The poem is often half written by the time I have done with my research. TFK: Why did you choose bees as the subject of your latest book? FLORIAN: I saw recently in the news that many bees are dying out. Scientists believe this to be caused by various diseases. I wanted to create awareness and learn more about bees after hearing this. So many of the fruits and vegetables we eat are dependent on pollination  by honeybees. If bees disappear, so will much of our food. TFK: Do you have a favorite bee? FLORIAN: One of my favorites is the poem and painting about the worker bees. I wanted the painting to be very playful and light. These bees have to work all day, and it's kind of like a factory. And even though these bees have to work very hard, they manage to smile. UnBEElievables is a book about  _  .
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