The books listed here fall into a variety of categories. There
are those that teach a great deal about ant behavior and activity
and social life in telling their stories. There are others with
strong mathematical connections. Some books examine ants from
a different cultural perspective. A few books dont contain
factual information about ants but do foster an appreciation for
ants and other small creatures. There is yet another group of
books that enhance and build vocabulary skills through word play.
Also listed are books with the core message of the benefit of
cooperative behavior which ants exemplify and students practice
in these activities. And finally there are some books that fit
into several of these categories.
There are many fables in which an ant is a main character. Aesop
is credited with at least two familiar fables, "The Dove
and the Ant" and "The Grasshopper and the Ant."
Both of these use an ant to illustrate industrious and intelligent
behavior. Aesops fables can be found in several different
collections. La Fontaine, a seventeenth-century poet, retold many
of Aesops fables in a book entitled The Turtle and the Two
Ducks.
The story of the Grasshopper and the Ant is told in many different
ways with several different endings. In Twelve Tales from Aesop,
Eric Carle retells the story with some surprises. Another version
is the basis for the book John J. Plenty and
Fiddler Dan, listed below.
Aardvarks Picnic
Amazing Anthony Ant
Ant and Bee and Kind Dog
The Ant and the Elephant
Anthony Ants Creepy Crawly Party
Antics!
Ants Dont Get Sunday Off
Babushkas Doll
Flit, Flutter, Fly! Poems About Bugs and Other
Crawly Creatures
"I Cant" Said the Ant:
A Second Book of Nonsense
In the Tall, Tall Grass
Its Mine!
John J. Plenty and Fiddler Dan
The Little Red Ant and the Great Big
The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in its Pants:
A Book About Ants
Night Visitors
One Hundred Hungry Ants
A Remainder of One
Step by Step
Theres an Ant in Anthony
Two Bad Ants
Aardvarks Picnic
by Jon Atlas Higham
Little, Brown, Boston. 1986
Grades: Preschool4
When Aardvark plans a picnic for his aardvark friends he is
sad to discover that he cant find the ants needed for their
tasty picnic treats. He decides hell have to find some as
he travels to the picnic site. Along his wayAardvark meets some
other friends with different picnic food ideas, but finds no ants.
Young readers will giggle and squeal with delight as they see
the ants that Aardvark doesnt see. When Aardvark meets his
aardvark friends at the picnic site it is very evident there are
plenty of ants for the picnic. This is one picnic where ants are
welcome guests!
Amazing Anthony Ant
by Lorna and Graham Philpot
Random House, New York. 1994
Grades: Preschool4
In this innovative, hands-on book, the reader is invited to
participate in many waysby singing the text of the story,
by lifting one of four flaps to complete the verse, by finding
Anthony in an underground maze full of many interesting and humorous
sites, and by following the maze as Anthony followed it. Another
fun feature of the book is the long line of rapidly multiplying
small ants across the top of each spread of two pages. This is
a great visual for understanding multiples. While the actual biological
information about ants is a bit skewed in this book, it is a fun
way to explore an underground tunnel and makes a great math connection
with its mazes, counting, and lines of ants.
Ant and Bee and Kind Dog
by Angela Banner; illustrated by Bryan Ward
Heinemann, London. 1992
Grades: Preschool2
One in a series of several books about the adventures of Ant
and Bee, this is an alphabetical story. When Kind Dog smells a
good smell, he and Ant and Bee try to track it down. Their adventure
occurs alphabeticallyto find the smell, Kind Dog sniffs
the air; they all walk along and find a bell then later a camel
and a duck. The book works well as a vocabulary builder and the
repetition of words will help and encourage early readers. Other
Ant and Bee books help readers learn colors, shapes, counting,
and days of the week.
The Ant and the Elephant
by Bill Peet
Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 1972
Grades: Preschool4
When a tiny ant becomes stranded in the middle of a river,
he seeks the help of a turtle who refuses to inconvenience himself.
When the turtle himself needs help he asks a hornbill who says
she will not oblige. In a chain of events, each selfish animal
refuses to help another until finally several jungle animals find
themselves in trouble. An elephant taking a stroll helps not only
the ant but the other animals as well. Then when the elephant
needs help, the ant returns the favorwith the help of 95,000
friends. A good read-aloud story to illustrate the benefits of
cooperative behavior.
Anthony Ants Creepy Crawly
Party
by Lorna and Graham Philpot
Random House, New York. 1995
Grades: Preschool4
Like Amazing Anthony Ant by the same authors, this is a hands-on,
reader participation book. Readers follow Anthony through an underground
maze as he delivers party invitations then look for his friends
under a pair of flaps. The final page shows Anthonys party
in full swing with a caterpillar cake with aphid milk for the
guests. In looking for Anthonys insect friends in their
underground homes, readers develop their visual discrimination
skills, and in following the mazes, mathematics skills are developed.
Antics!
by Cathi Hepworth
G. P. Putnams Sons, New York. 1992
Grades: All ages
For a totally humorous and very humanized view of ants, this
is a great book. It is an alphabetical anthology of funny "ant"
words. Each page has a large, richly detailed illustration of
the word. For example, "A" is for Antique and the illustration
shows a very old, spinster ant sitting in a rocker on a porch
while knitting and listening to a gramophone. Many pages contain
several funniesthe initial pun with the "ant"
word plus more in the illustration. While more sophisticated puns
and word play wont be grasped by preschoolers, theyre
liable to enjoy this colorful and funny book.
Ants Dont Get Sunday Off
by Penny Pollock; illustrated by Lorinda Bryan Cauley
Putnam, New York. 1978
Grades: K3
Anya, a busy and tired worker ant, longs for a little break
from her chores. Nevertheless, when heavy rains threaten her nest,
she takes charge and leads the workers as they rescue the queen
and young ants. However, Anya becomes separated from them all.
When she tries to find the nest, Anya has more adventure than
she wished for. This easy-reader, early chapter book includes
a nice map of Anyas underground home as well as a map tracking
her adventure. Facts about young ants, ant tunnels, and jobs of
worker ants are nicely folded into the story.
Babushkas Doll
by Patricia Polacco
Simon & Schuster, New York. 1990
Grades: K3
Natasha is a demanding and rambunctious little girl who borrows
a doll that turns out to be even more demanding than she is. Natasha
learns something about herselfand that playing with Babushkas
doll once is enough! A good book to start a discussion about cooperative
behavior.
Flit, Flutter, Fly! Poems About Bugs
and Other Crawly Creatures
selected by Lee Bennett Hopkins; illustrated by Peter Palagonia
Doubleday, New York. 1992
Grades: Preschool2
This book contains a collection of poems by a variety of authors
about insects and other creatures that crawl, including a delightful
poem about ants. Reading these simple poems fosters an appreciation
for small creatures. The poems are gentle verses and the illustrations
are soft and warma perfect combination for young children.
"I Cant" Said the Ant:
A Second Book of Nonsense
by Polly Cameron
Coward, McCann & Geoghegan, New York. 1961
Grades: K3
With playful rhyming text, the story of a kitchen drama is
told. When the teapot falls off the drain board, the whole kitchen
cheers for a passing ant to rescue her. Unable to perform the
task alone, the ant recruits the help of many other ants and two
spiders. With the encouragement of many kitchen items, they cooperatively
rescue the teapot. This is an easy-reader book with illustrations
incorporated into much of the text that will enhance the vocabulary
of early readers. Though this book is older and may be hard to
find, it is recommended for its emphasis on the benefit of cooperation
and its development of readers vocabulary skills.
In the Tall, Tall Grass
by Denise Fleming
Henry Holt and Co., New York. 1991
Grades: PreschoolK
With large letters and simple words, the rhymed text tells
of the many creatures to be found in a grassy areaas seen
by a caterpillar moving through the tall grass. The colorful illustrations
show a variety of creaturesfrom beetles to batseach
doing something different in the grass. Ideal for a young audience,
this book provides a playful and colorful look at small critters.
Its Mine!
by Leo Lionni
Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 1985
Grades: Preschool2
Three quarrelsome frogs quibble over ownership of their pond,
the island, and even the air! A storm makes them value the benefits
of sharing when they must share the last rock rising above the
flooded waters. This is a useful story to introduce the merits
of cooperation before beginning cooperative activities.
John J. Plenty and Fiddler Dan: A New
Fable of the Grasshopper and the Ant
by John Ciardi; illustrated by Madeleine Gekiere
Lippincott, Philadelphia. 1963
Grades: K6
This is a retelling of Aesops familiar tale of the Grasshopper
and the Ant. The tale is elaborated in poetic verse and has some
surprising twists. This book makes a good read-aloud for Activity
3, Sessions 2 and 3 since it has much to do with food storage.
The Little Red Ant and the Great Big
Crumb
by Shirley Climo; illustrated by Francisco X. Mora
Clarion Books, New York. 1995
Grades: K4
In this retelling of a Mexican fable, a small red ant feels unable
to carry the large crumb of food she finds in a cornfield. She
seeks the help of many others, but finally realizes she is the
strongest among them. Many Spanish words and phrases are used
in a natural way throughout the storysuch as El Lagarto,
the lizard and La Araña, the spiderand are formally
defined at the back of the book. As fables often do, this one
has a moral: You can do it if you think you can.
The Magic School Bus Gets Ants in its
Pants: A Book About Ants
TV tie-in book adaptation by Linda Ward Beech and illustrated
by John Speirs; based on The Magic School Bus book series
written by Joanna Cole and illustrated by Bruce Degen
Scholastic, New York. 1996
Grades: 15
As the class project for the science fair, Ms. Frizzles
class makes a movie about ants. In the style that has made the
Magic School Bus so popular, the class really "gets into"
their projectthey shrink and are taken into an ant hill.
The book clearly explains the different jobs ants perform, ant
communication, food sharing, tunnel structure, and life stages.
With Ms. Frizzles help, the class realizes that the ants
work together cooperatively, and that every ants job is
important for the survival of all. As in other Magic School Bus
books, there is a page of facts in the back of the book, plus
an ant hill project for parents and children.
Night Visitors
by Ed Young
Philomel Books, New York. 1995
Grades: 16
When ants invade his familys rice storehouse, young
Ho Kuan, who has great respect for all forms of life, must find
a way to seal the storehouse to keep the ants out before his father
kills them all. Through the strong visions he experiences in a
dreamduring which he becomes part of an ant colonyhe
finds the solution. This book is the retelling of a Chinese folktale.
Many aspects of ant behavior appear throughout the story.
One Hundred Hungry Ants
by Elinor J. Pinczes; illustrated by Bonnie MacKain
Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 1993
Grades: Preschool3
Told in lilting rhyme, this is the playful story of an ant colony
swarming toward a picnic. As they march along, the littlest ant
stops the procession and suggests they divide into different line
formations to arrive at the picnic more quickly. In all the divisions
of one hundred, the illustration actually shows the correct number
of ants in each line. In the end, however, the ants rearrangements
cause them to miss out on all the food; other forest animals have
taken it alleven a snail and a turtle were faster than the
ants. This book makes a great math connection as an early introduction
to the principles of division. It can even be useful in teaching
the real-world activity of how to make change for a dollar. All
ages will love to follow along with the actions of these happy,
but hungry, ants.
A Remainder of One
by Elinor J. Pinczes; illustrated by Bonnie MacKain
Houghton Mifflin, Boston. 1995
Grades: Preschool3
When the 25th squadron of bugs march past their queen, she
is dismayed to see that the lines of bugs are uneven. One bug,
Joe by name, is left behinda remainder of one. Knowing that
their queen does not like untidy lines, the bugs divide themselves
into different lines. It is only after several tries that Joe
is included in even lines that march by the queen to the delight
of all. Colorful and playful illustrations make this a fun math
connection that introduces the concept of division and remainders.
Step by Step
by Diane Wolkstein; illustrated by Jos. A. Smith
Morrow Junior Books, New York. 1994
Grades: Preschool1
In this simple story, a little ant and her friend spend a
fun-filled day together. To reach her friend, the ant travels
carefully, step by step over stones, across a leaf, and under
a branch. Students may notice that the little ant is only wearing
four shoes even though ants walk on six feet. The watercolor illustrations
do a great job of showing the world from the small ants
perspective. Throughout the story, many other small creatures
are also pictured. Preschoolers, who also travel through a big
world, can identify with the little ant.
Theres an Ant in Anthony
by Bernard Most
Morrow, New York. 1980
Grades: Preschool3
After discovering an "ant in his own name
at school one day, Anthony searches for an "ant" in
a variety of words and places. Each time Anthony finds an ant
in a word, he picks it up and puts it in a jaradding to
the fun of the book. Readers can follow along counting the number
of ants Anthony has in his jarand the number of ants that
find Anthonys pants when he rests in a park! A great book
to help early readers develop their vocabulary, this book is also
helpful for developing counting skills.
Two Bad Ants
by Chris Van Allsburg
Houghton Mifflin Co., Boston. 1988
Grades: Preschool4
When a colony of ants sets off in search of beautiful sparkling
crystals (sugar) to feed their queen, it becomes a dangerous adventure
for two curious ants who stay behind. After surviving many life-threatening
situations, they become convinced to return to the safety of their
colony. Illustrations are drawn from an ants perspective,
showing the immensity of the world around them. Older students
could answer the question, "How was the scout able to find
her way back to the sugar in order to lead the colony there?"
A positive aspect of the book is its portrayal of ants as social
creatures who live best when they work together for a common goal.
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