EXTRAS:
Here's a fun activity! Read the book then play the board game. Move your token forward one space for each true or false question you answer correctly. Move your token back one space if you get the question wrong. How quickly can you reach the end and celebrate with Mack? Download the board game and answer key here.
Download a coloring page with two of my favorite illustrations here.
Pets Add Life podcast (you can also watch here)
The Dog Who Saved the Bees
Illustrated by David Hohn
Published by Sleeping Bear Press
When an overworked beehive inspector seeks a detection dog to protect bees from a deadly disease, she teams up with a lonely dog who needs a loving home and a purpose.
Cybil Preston needs a dog. But not just any dog. She needs a dog to help her with her work. Cybil is a beehive inspector who works to ensure the health of commercial beehives in Maryland. Hundreds of hives are shipped across the country as farmers need bees to pollinate their crops. Without the bees, there wouldn't be foods like apples, almonds, and strawberries.
But the bees must be healthy to be shipped, and there's a deadly disease, foulbrood, that is highly contagious. If even one infected hive left the state, entire bee populations could be wiped out. Dogs, with their ultrasensitive sense of smell, can sniff out even the tiniest scent of foulbrood in a hive. A well-trained, focused detection dog can inspect 50 hives in 10 minutes. Work that would take Cybil an entire day to do.
When Cybil meets Mack, an unruly and lonely dog, she wonders if she has found her canine colleague. Can rambunctious Mack be trained to meet this important challenge? Readers of all ages will enjoy this warmly illustrated true story of Cybil and Mack as they work to save the bees.
Nonfiction picture book for ages 6 to 10.
Awards & Honors
The Dog Who Saved the Bees was chosen as a Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection.
Chosen by the Maryland Agricultural Education Foundation as the 2026 Maryland Ag Literacy book.
Recognized with an Honorable Mention in the Eureka! Children's Nonfiction Awards by the California Reading Association.
Order your copy here:
Praise for The Dog Who Saved the Bees:
“A rescue story for both Mack and the bees, Gibeault’s informative tale catalogs Mack’s training and growing success as it educates readers about the environmental importance of bees. Audiences familiar with the more traditional uses of trained dogs will delight in learning about Mack’s highly specialized work, especially through the warm watercolor and ink illustrations that cleverly connect his growing skills directly to the life of the bees. Love and mutual respect radiate from the text and pictures—“Cybil had found her detection dog. But Mack had found his home”—which will make readers root for both Cybil and Mack’s bond and the survival of the bees. Back matter offers further information on foulbrood and bees. VERDICT High-stakes and wholly unique, this true story highlights the environmental value of bees in addition to celebrating the bond between dog and owner. Recommended for all collections.”
- School Library Journal (starred review)
“This true story is partly a heartwarming tale of a lonely pooch finding a home, but, a professional animal trainer herself, Gibeault also lays out in loving, precise detail the systematic series of humane challenges and rewards that turned a rowdy, distractable dog who at first wouldn’t even sit on command into a dependable and responsive worker. A yellow Lab whose big personality shines in Hohn’s illustrations, Mack will easily win readers over as he passes each test and gets to work, then goes on with the light-skinned Cybil to earn a public service award and even enjoys a fling with media stardom. Following a final turn proudly trotting past piled-up beehives, Mack poses in backmatter snapshots using his expert sniffer and working alongside his own successor.”
- Kirkus Reviews
“Gibeault’s text nicely balances details about beekeeping and dog training with plenty of action and emotional appeal. Hohn’s soft illustrations in an earthy palette bring dog Mack’s lovable, if at first unruly, personality to life. Informative back matter about these real-life heroes and a bibliography are appended.”
- The Horn Book
“The Dog Who Saved the Bees by Stephanie Gibeault enjoys good-sized, vivid illustrations by David Hohn that bring to life the challenges of training a dog to become a beehive inspector...A fun story of a pup that becomes an invaluable dog despite his playful nature provides kids with many insights about bees, dogs, and service animals of various types.”
- Midwest Book Review Children's Bookwatch