1,001 Ants

PreS-Gr 2–Nature lovers will delight in this nonfiction window into the life and perspective of ants. The first pages focus on the ants themselves, providing fun facts about their lives and habits. A cross-section of an ant hill shows all of the specialized tasks taking place—a queen laying eggs, worker ants taking food to the compost room, and brawny guard ants keeping the peace outside the entrance. Succeeding pages follow the ants as they ramble through diverse forest habitats, encountering the different plant and animal species that inhabit each one. In the pond spread, the ants see water lilies, frogs, and dragonflies. The artwork is reminiscent of traditional botanical illustration. Each page spread highlights a few featured plant and animal species in the foreground, boldly colored and silhouetted. Depth is added with more abstract black and white backgrounds, ensuring an abundance of visual interest on each page. The natural color palette shifts as the ants encounter new marvels—earthy reds and oranges for the mushrooms, deep greens for the ferns and moss, and browns for the hedgehog rooting at the base of a tree. Fun plant and animal facts are arranged around the art in the style of diagram labels. While largely informative, the book also features a fun search-and-find element for added interest. Within the myriad ants crossing each page, there is one little ant wearing red socks (and usually getting into mischief). The book can easily be integrated into lessons about ants, forest ecology, and food chains.