‘Bee’-ing, Bessie - Creating a Neurodiverse Picture Book

This charming blog has been written for us by George Kirk,, author the captivating picturebook, Bessie's Bees. I may be older than Bessie and her intended audience but the story certainly struck a chord with me, I hope it does for you too, or at least helps you understand the perspective of others around you who might experience the world differently. For a review of this book see the Armadillo home page where it is my Book O' the Week.

"George’s head was full of bees, absolutely buzzing with them …”

I didn’t know when I wrote my first draft of Bessie’s Bees that it was a neurodiverse picture book- I suspected, but I wasn’t sure.

Having a head full of bees was something I just used to say. One of those things I thought that everyone felt sometimes like ‘having your head in the clouds’ or ‘being away with the fairies’. Only for me it wasn’t just some of the time, it was all the time.

I was that girl who grew up covered in bruises and scabs, whose laces were always undone and whose hair was always in knots. The girl who could just never sit still or ever be quiet. It was tough, especially when I started school, because somehow, I was always too loud, too messy, too forgetful. I felt I couldn’t do anything quite right except for one thing. My busy brain might not be able to retain a spelling or learn the difference between left and right, but it was constantly firing out all kinds of exciting and original ideas that no one else ever seemed to think of. That’s how I began to learn to regulate myself. When I needed to quieten the noise in my head, then I told myself stories, and so the quality that had often been my biggest hindrance also became my greatest joy.

That was the inspiration for Bessie. What if there was a girl who instead of feeling like her head was full of bees, had actual bees that lived inside her head and buzzed in and out? What adventures and mischief would they get up to? How would the bees help her? How might they cause her trouble? And what would happen when she began to try and fit into a place where other children didn’t have bees?

By the time I had a draft that was ready to be seen by publishers I didn’t suspect it was a neurodiverse picture book anymore. I knew beyond a shadow of doubt.

During the time I was writing I received my diagnosis. I have AuDHD, which means I have coexisting Autism and ADHD. For me, Bessie’s story had been about expressing the ADHD side of my personality and trying to share just how exhilarating and exhausting it can be. Realising that made me pause to think about the message I wanted to share with a pre-school audience.

I have over 20 years’ experience working as a teacher in primary schools and in every class I ever taught there was always at least 2 or 3 students that were having difficulty fitting in with the ‘norm’. Some were on their way to receiving a diagnosis such as dyslexia or ADHD, others were probably just going to be seen as being different, creative or quirky. Whatever their future, to me they were brilliant, exciting individuals who I tried to support as I watched them go through experiences that were achingly familiar. It wasn’t always easy in a well-meaning but imperfect education system.

So, as I brought my story together, I thought about what it was those children wanted, what it had been that I had wanted. And it didn’t take me long to realise that we wanted to be recognised, understood and accepted just the way we were. And so…

“Bessie’s head was full of bees, absolutely buzzing with them… and that was just fine.”

My thanks to George Kirk for this charming story and to Templar Books for the opportunity to share it with my readers.