FICTION

How To Walk an Ant

illus. by Cindy Derby. 40p. appendix. glossary. Roaring Brook. Mar. 2019. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781250162625.
COPY ISBN
PreS-Gr 1—-Expert ant walker Amariyah shares her valuable experience in this simple nine-step guide. It starts out easy enough as she explains how to find the ants, gain their trust, and even put a fancy leash on them. However, by step eight, Amariyah finds herself swarmed. This leads to an unfortunate accident with a ladybug walker when their lines tangle up. A new friendship, and business partnership, is born by the end of this amusing debut. Derby writes in an adorable childlike voice; Amariyah sounds like a kid playing at a job, and her logic is whimsical. Kids will find certain ideas, like using grandma's fake nail as a bridge for the ants, entertaining. To maintain the illusion that this is a DIY guidebook, each section includes instructions, tips, and rules, which are written by hand, as well as helpful, minimally colored visuals, made from watercolors and thick inks. Finally, Amariyah provides additional information about ants within an appendix and glossary.
VERDICT Children will be tickled by this plot-driven guide and its novel conceit.

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