Written for the author's children, then aged six and eight, and used for many years as a teaching aid in a primary school, Beekle Henry has four main characters - a beetle, a snail, a dandelion and a bumble bee. It ranges widely through science, history and language, and considers all manner of knowledge so that no matter how many times kids return to it there is always something fresh to think about and to understand. It is absolutely intended to be read aloud and to be used as a starting point to encourage further exploration, examination and explanation of the world that children will grow into.