"Two Bad Ants"
by Chris Van Allsburg
32 pages / Print / FantasySummary: A colony of ants venture off to return more "white crystal" (sugar) to the queen ant. The ants march across the lawn and into a house. "Two bad ants" decide to stay and eat the white crystal while the rest of the colony returns back to the ant colony. The two ants are rudely awakened when they are carried away by a spoon and added into a cup of coffee. The ants escape death on a few more occasions, being launched out of the toaster and being washed away into the kitchen sink. The ants make it back to the colony in one piece and both appreciate the safety of home.
Evaluation: Chris Van Allsburg is a master of drawing perspective and creating mood. He shows us the perspective of the ant and how everything is much larger than it. The story is told from the point of view of ant, so the reader has to guess what the ant is talking about (They describe the house as a large mountain "reaching into the heavens".They describe coffee is a "hot, brown liquid). This book is great to read to students because you can always stop and ask them, "What are the ants talking about?" There is much suspense in this story which makes readers want to turn the page.
Appeal Terms: animal
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