- boy and girl find themselves as tall as ants and expected to work as hard as ants, too!
- gentle story with a unique glimpse into the lives of insects, their methods, and their enemies
- no language concerns
- convo: one instance of crossing fingers for luck, slavery (a main element is about one type of ants being slaves to another type), a few battles with deaths (of insects)
Type: chapter book
Ages: 5+ (listeners), 7+ (readers)
Author: Evelyn Sibley Lampman
Illustrator: Honoré Valintcourt
How fascinating to imagine changing sizes! Cousins Craig and Jill suddenly find themselves in a jungle, which turns out to be the backyard where they had just been standing. Grass is so big it blocks the sun! Ants discover them almost immediately and carry the children off to their leader.
Craig and Jill are put to work in various capacities as the ants try to figure out which jobs they can manage. No one understands why they’re so slow or need a little sleep once in a while…and they certainly don’t get why anyone would want to be a masher (their name for humans)! And why can’t they carry their body weight while running?
But our two young mashers each make some friends, help out the city of ants in significant ways and have quite the overall adventure. The ending has a unique little twist–and, no, they don’t wake up from a dream. Ha.
My main critique is regarding the writing itself. It could have been significantly improved with the right editor. However, the author obviously did an immense amount of research and combined that with creativity. Her result made a pleasant read-aloud that might be a great fit for your family. It took us quite a few lunches to get through it.
Side note: Shout-out to all the parents out there doing voices for read-alouds! My kids laughed so hard they cried when suddenly my voice for the cricket changed. It’s hard to keep track. 🙂
Also, this book has been recently picked up by a different publisher after going out of print–find it at Purple House Press. And happy reading!