Steve Coleman: The Bee’s Knees

“The Bees Knees” is the first in a collection of works for children from zero to five years and for older hands who continue to nurture and enjoy the child within. It has been designed with the needs of the growing child, the family, the dedicated teacher and carer in mind, with written language carefully tailored to engage both listener and reader in a fun way of learning.“The Bee’s Knees” is a metaphor. It stands for ‘the height of excellence’ and it’s one of those catchy sayings that have endured internationally over the years and it’s been around for a long time….since the nineteen twenties when it was popular along with other sayings such as “The Cat’s Whisker”. Metaphors, being an integral part of everyday language, especially in Australia, are learned mostly through listening and repeating, and teaching them to young children can be heaps of fun. “The Bees Knees” does just that through simple rhyme and bright, basic colours. Steve spent his first years on a pineapple farm in the bush on Magnetic Island in tropical North Queensland, Australia. As with many other children in the neighbourhood at the time, (no electricity, no phone, no town water) Steve’s childhood play-ground consisted of rocks, trees, the seasonal creeks, the beach, shallow reef flats, good Magnetic Island earth and an alive imagination. From this earthy background, came Steve’s passion for the bush.  In fact, for much of his professional career, which now spans decades, he has shared his accumulated knowledge and passion with thousands of children, young adults and countless other outdoor adventure seekers. Steve graduated as a teacher from the Townsville Teachers’ College (now James Cook University) in 1971.  His experience since, spans some early years in secondary education, teaching mathematics and science in Queensland and New Zealand classrooms; through a switch in the nineteen-eighties to teaching in the great aussie outdoors, to  recent years where he has set up and run a personal growth and education business based in North Queensland. Sharing the richness and inspiration of that experience through creating quality literature for young readers is a vital part of that business.