Thinking About Ants - Hardcover

Grade 1-3?This simple introduction invites readers to see the world from an ant's point of view. As the text briefly describes the tiny insect's physical and behavioral characteristics, natural habitats, life cycle, diet, and enemies, it suggests that one imagine becoming an ant, taking on specific physical characteristics as they are mentioned and performing some of a worker ant's tasks. Vibrant paintings?most of which are two-page spreads?show a variety of ant species in natural settings as they engage in food gathering, fighting off enemies, tending larvae or the queen, etc. An appendix identifies the species depicted by common name. While the lilting, clearly written text is well organized, some useful information is omitted. For instance, terms such as "larvae," "cocoon," and "pupae" are not defined. Aphids are mentioned, but not identified as insects and no explanation is given as to how ants "sip honeydew" from them. Also, the environments shown are too pristine to be completely realistic. Arthur Dorros's Ant Cities (HarperCollins, 1988) provides more detailed information of life within an ant colony, but lacks Brenner's imaginative approach to the subject and Schwartz's anatomically precise paintings. Minor flaws aside, Thinking About Ants will give young readers a good idea of what an ant's life is really like.?Karey Wehner, San Francisco Public Library
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Gr. 2-3, younger for reading aloud. Brenner invites readers to get down--way down--and take a close look at ants: their colors, bodies, diet, natural enemies, colonies, and reproductive cycle. Schwartz makes the mental foray easy with a set of crisply drafted close-up paintings that somehow avoid being frightening--even when depicting a full-page view of an insect head or soldier ants ripping interlopers into fragments. The author breaks her easy narrative into short, occasionally rhyming sentences or phrases, framing many as questions; the text and large, clear pictures combine to make this an unusually promising candidate for a read-aloud science book. Children sharp enough to ask what kinds of ants they're seeing here will find the 11 varieties indexed at the end, and for more detail about ant lives and habits, follow this up with Arthur Dorros' Ant Cities (1987). John Peters