1001 Ants

by Joanna Rzezak

Overview

In the vein of the best-selling Big Book of Bugs, a beautifully illustrated, informative book introducing children to the world of ants.

We’re on an adventure with 1,001 ants! Come visit the ants in their home, meet their queen, and discover how they look after their colony. Then join them on a walk through the countryside, discovering plants, insects, mushrooms, and animals that live outside and in our yards. Spot the ant with red socks hidden on every double page, and enjoy a pleasant stroll through the undergrowth—seeing things that humans are usually too big to notice!

1001 Ants is an engaging nonfiction storybook for children full of fascinating facts about nature. With lively and appealing illustrations, it’s a must-have for children who are curious about bugs and the animal kingdom.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780500652084
Publisher:	Thames & Hudson
Publication date:	09/03/2019
Series:	1001 Series , #1
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.10(w) x 12.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Joanna Rzezak is a graphic designer, illustrator, and the author of 1001 Ants, 1001 Bees, and 1001 Fish. A graduate in architecture from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw, she also works in editorial, web design, and branding. She lives in Paris.

Editorial Reviews

09/23/2019

Stylized ants march from their grainy hill and through the forest at the opening of this close-up, visually engaging title. Subsequent spreads approximate a generic woodland, where typeset captions hover between blades of grass, arch along a fir cone, or proceed vertically up a tree. One ant, reminiscent of a Richard Scarry character, always stands apart from her peers’ uniform line wearing two red socks; alone, she climbs a daffodil, greets a caterpillar, and escapes a woodpecker’s long pink tongue. In playful illustrations, Rzezak traces stems and flowers with black lines and stippled dots against a white ground, and tints select plants, bugs, birds, and mammals in froggy green, wheat gold, and earthy brown. Basic observations (“The hare is famous for running fast”; “Owls come out to hunt when it’s dark”) and frequent warnings (“Some mushrooms are toxic, so look, but don’t touch!”; “Beware of ticks! They can bite you”) are less interesting than the facts about ants themselves: “Whoops! An ant has fallen! But don’t worry. It’s very light, so it won’t hurt itself when it lands.” Short on information but filled with captivating imagery, this diversion, originally published in France, suggests an ant’s-eye glimpse of flora and fauna. Ages 3–5. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

01/24/2020

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. VERDICT The wonders to be found at ground level are abundant and appealing in this verdant stroll through a European woodland.—Alyssa Annico, Youngstown State University, OH

School Library Journal

2019-06-25
A line of ants marches toward an unknown destination against a background of successive double-page spreads featuring the various flora and fauna encountered during the journey.

The initial double-page spread, like all the others, has a stark white background, broken by stylized, black-inked, plantlike designs. The foreground of this spread shows a large, cross-sectioned, brown anthill. Its white tunnels and chambers—some containing ants and others with such ant necessities as seeds and aphids—branch out from the book's center, accompanied by accessible text with brief explanations. The scores of black ants have a realistic body shape, with crescent-moon negative space creating comical eyes. From the start, red ink urges readers to "keep an eye out" for a "little ant in red socks hiding in every picture in this book." This offers two advantages: extra fun along the way, and a cushion of relief at the unexpected, nature-can-be-harsh ending. The ant in red socks sometimes makes comments and often gets distracted. Facts about different animals and plants have been well chosen to spark curiosity, with sentences arranged informally around the colorful, engaging, and often comical plants and animals. Reading in this random order works well until the penultimate page, where an unfinished sentence along a thin, pink road leads to the next page's dark punchline. This comes as something of a narrative sucker punch after this lighthearted journey that's allowed readers to become fond of these insect characters.

Natural selection lite? (Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews