The Queen with Bees in Her Hair

This is a wonderful tale of the law of unintended consequences and in this case it all turns out well. It begins with two monarchies that are contiguous, but with a wall separating them. One is ruled by Queen Ruby who tours her kingdom every Saturday and the other by King Harry who never appears in public. In her attempt to be even more beautiful, Queen Ruby has a garland of flowers placed in her hair. This attracts bees so she orders her royal guards to capture all the bees in her kingdom and take them to Harry's kingdom. The next Saturday, Queen Ruby has a hat made from trumpet flowers and she once again began touring her kingdom. This time, a flock of hummingbirds approached the flowers so in a fit of pique, she has her royal guards round up all hummingbirds and send them to Harry's kingdom. A week later, her hat is made from blackberries and this time Queen Ruby's hat is attacked by songbirds, which she banishes from her kingdom. The next spring is silent and dull, as there is no buzzing, no colorful flowers and no birdsong. People in Ruby's kingdom realize that there will be no crops without the pollinating creatures, so Ruby orders that the bees, hummingbirds and songbirds be fetched from Harry's kingdom. This causes her kingdom to erupt in joy and then suddenly, the carriage of King Harry arrives. He is there to thank Queen Ruby for her gifts; the extra pollinators have led to bumper crops in Harry's kingdom. The people of both monarchies rejoice in the newfound friendship and the wall separating the kingdoms is torn down. This book is a science lesson wrapped up in a more traditional king/queen fairy tale. It demonstrates how changes cannot be made in a fit; the consequences of each major action must be thought through before it is carried out.